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Leslie M. Sammis

Attorney at Law
Sammis Law Firm, P.A.
1005 North Marion St.
Tampa, FL 33602
813-250-0500

Leslie Sammis focuses on DUI defense in the greater Tampa Bay area. She serves as Florida’s State Delegate for the National College for DUI Defense (NCDD). As the NCDD Florida State Delegate, she attends at least one NCDD-sponsored seminar per year, where she acts as a host assisting the Regents and Fellows at seminar receptions and dinners. The state delegate represents the interests of NCDD members within that state, acting as a liaison between the state’s DUI defense community and the national organization. Each state has a designated state delegate who represents the interests of NCDD members within that state, acting as a liaison between the state’s DUI defense community and the national organization. The NCDD state delegates might be called upon to coordinate state-specific training sessions, disseminate updates on DUI law and defense strategies, and represent Florida’s DUI defense attorneys within the broader NCDD framework.

Additionally, her in-depth knowledge of specific DUI laws in Florida is demonstrated by her selection to present the “Case Law Update: Knowledge is Power” at the Masters of DUI 2023: Top-Gun Teaching for Cutting-Edge Advocacy” on May 4, 2023. The CLE seminar takes a comprehensive, cutting-edge look at the prosecution and defense of alcohol- and drug-related vehicular offenses. The event is sponsored by the Criminal Law Section of the Florida Bar.

Leslie Sammis graduated with Honors from the University of Florida College of Law in Gainesville, FL, in 1999. For more than 25 years, she has focused on DUI and criminal defense. She is admitted to practice law in Florida and Georgia, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Education and Experience

Ms. Sammis completed her undergraduate degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1996. She completed her first year of law school at Stetson University College of Law in St. Petersburg, Florida. That year, she competed as the only first year student on Stetson’s Trial Team, winning second place overall in the 1997 National Association of Trial Lawyers (ATLA) Competition in Denver, Colorado.

For her second and third year of law school, Ms. Sammis transferred to the University of Florida College of Law in Gainesville, Florida, where she graduated with Honors in 1999. While at the University of Florida, Ms. Sammis served as vice chair of the executive board for the UF Justice Campbell Thornal Moot Court Board.

Gaining valuable insight into the criminal justice process, Ms. Sammis completed internships with the State Attorney’s Office prosecuting felony offenses, including three jury trials.

She also completed internships at the United States Attorney’s Office in Tampa, assisting federal prosecutors. She also completed a federal judicial internship with the Honorable Henry Lee Adams, Jr., United States District Judge, for the Middle District of Florida in the Tampa Division.

Her passion for trial advocacy led her to the Public Defender’s Office for the Fourth Judicial Circuit of Florida. During more than two years at the Public Defender’s Office, she represented clients charged with misdemeanor, juvenile, and felony charges.

After leaving the public defender’s office, she entered private practice, where she continued to focus on DUI and other serious criminal offenses.

Education:

University of Florida College of Law, Gainesville, Florida, 1999
- Juris Doctorate, with Honors
University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, 1996
- Bachelor of Arts

Bar Admissions: