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Massachusetts From the Berkshires to Boston

JOSEPH D. BERNARD, of the Law Offices of Joseph D. Bernard, PC, in Springfield, has been practicing in Massachusetts for more than thirty years and has built a cutting-edge practice focused on OUI defense. His practice delves deeply into the science of impairment, the forensic standards of breath and blood testing for both alcohol and drugs, and the accuracy and precision of forensic laboratories. Mr. Bernard was the lead defense counsel in Commonwealth v. Ananias, the statewide consolidated litigation challenging the scientific reliability of breath testing in Massachusetts, where he not only persuaded the court that proper calibration protocols are necessary for reliable breath test results but also exposed the egregious misconduct of the Massachusetts Crime Laboratory, ultimately resulting in an eight-year exclusion of breath-test results from evidence. Mr. Bernard is the only lawyer in Massachusetts to have completed the world- renowned Robert F. Borkenstein courses in both alcohol and drugs, addressing the principles of pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, and the effects of alcohol and drugs; standards in the forensic laboratory; and the advancement of testing for impairment. He has also completed multiple courses in gas chromatography and standardized field sobriety testing. He was nationally recognized for trial advocacy in 2018 by the National College of DUI Defense, named “Lawyer of the Year” in 2018 by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, and locally honored by the Hampden County Bar Association in 2018 with the Kent B. Smith Award, given to an outstanding citizen of the legal community and a dedicated contributor to the advancement of the practice of criminal law. Mr. Bernard’s work has been featured in the New York Times television series The Weekly and has been chronicled by the Boston Globe. He speaks regularly at seminars across Massachusetts on OUI issues, the science of OUI cases, and the standards for forensic laboratories. Mr. Bernard is the primary author of Drunk Driving Defense and coauthor of Marijuana and the Law, titles in the Thomson Reuters Massachusetts Practice Series. (May 2025)

Mr. Bernard was the lead defense counsel in Commonwealth v. Ananias, the statewide consolidated litigation challenging the scientific reliability of breath testing in Massachusetts, where he not only persuaded the court that proper calibration protocols are necessary for reliable breath test results but also exposed the egregious misconduct of the Massachusetts Crime Laboratory, ultimately resulting in an eight-year exclusion of breath-test results from evidence.

Mr. Bernard does multiple statewide presentations a year in Massachusetts to defense attorneys and legal professionals on breath testing and how to's when defending oui/dui cases.