Carlos A. Canet,  has been a member of the Florida Bar since 1983.

He began his legal career defending criminal cases with the Dade County Public Defenders Office.  During his time with that office he went to trial nearly 100 times and obtained Not Guilty verdicts for clients charged with everything from First Degree Murder and Strong Armed Robbery to DUI.

He began private practice in 1988, defending criminal cases in State and Federal Court, as well as the Appellate Courts.  In 1989, he became a member of the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States, and also the Trial Bar for the Southern District of Florida.

In 1990 he joined nationally recognized DUI defense firm and in 1995 became the second named partner in firm history, having previously been a senior trial lawyer and chief of the Broward County section. 

He has defended DUI cases throughout his 23 years of practice, however it was not until his time with the Essen firm that he devoted himself exclusively to the defense of drunk driving cases.

Starting in 1991, he began a series of case projects that ultimately resulted in the exclusion of all types of evidence used by the State against his clients. 

In 1991, he successfully argued the exclusion of breath test results for all of his Broward clients based upon administrative irregularities with certain breath test maintenance forms. 

In 1992, he successfully argued the exclusion of blood test results on the same grounds. 

In 1993, he successfully argued for dismissal of dozens of DUI cases based upon a violation of the Double Jeopardy clause.

In 1994 he attacked breath test results in Dade County based upon the lack of approval for a critical breath machine component called a “thermistor.”

In 1995, he successfully argued for the exclusion of field sobriety exercises based upon lack of scientific reliability.  This case led to an appeal to the Fourth District Court of Appeal that resulted in the exclusion of the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test.

In 1998, he once again successfully argued for the exclusion of breath test results based upon the lack of administrative approval of a breath test form called a “Certificate of Assurance.”  This case also led to a county court appeal that was also won in Broward Circuit Court.