Zachary Divelbiss

Why did we choose criminal defense?

Zach did not choose criminal defense from a textbook. He lived it. After a DUI he owned and resolved, he was charged with giving a police officer false identification. The ID was his own real license from the MVD. He was a backseat passenger in a friend’s car, not driving and doing nothing wrong. Because his license was suspended at that moment, a genuine license got treated as a fake one.

The officer would not look at his passport. The prosecutor would not hear his side. Both told him the judge would fix it. Broke and representing himself, Zach learned at trial that the judge had no power to dismiss the case. Only the officer or the prosecutor could, and neither would. He was convicted over a technicality.

That conviction followed him. He graduated seventh in his class, passed the bar on his first try, and still waited about a year to be licensed while he explained a “fake ID” that was never fake. The delay cost him jobs and nearly cost him the career he had earned. He built Future First Criminal Law so no one else has to stand in that courtroom alone.

What makes our firm different?

Future First runs differently on purpose. The firm focuses only on criminal defense and clearing criminal records, so nothing pulls its attention elsewhere. Clients text their attorney and paralegal directly in a group chat, with no gatekeepers and no waiting on callbacks. The firm records video updates that walk each client through the police report, the plea offers, and the negotiations, so the client and their family always see exactly where the case stands.

Fees are flat, with trial included and no hourly billing. The firm handles the MVD license hearing for every DUI client at no extra cost, something most defense firms and every public defender leave to the client. Record sealing is included free when a client pays in full or finances. The goal is simple: resolve the case cleanly, then clear it so it stops following the client for life.

What sets our lawyers apart?

Zach brings what most defense lawyers do not: he has been the defendant. He knows the fear of a first court date and the weight of a record, because he carried both before he ever held a law license.

The credentials are strong on their own. He earned his B.S. in Justice Studies from Arizona State University, Cum Laude, then his J.D. from Arizona Summit Law School, where he graduated early and Cum Laude in the top 10% of his class, served on Law Review and Moot Court, and received the Donald E. Lively Mission Pillar Award. He passed the Arizona bar on his first attempt and is admitted before the Supreme Court of Arizona. He trained inside the Maricopa County Public Defender’s Office and several Phoenix firms before founding the firm.

Experience tells him what to argue. Having lived it tells him why it matters.