About Us

Being arrested in the State of Florida is one of the most difficult, humbling, humiliating, and awful experiences you will ever endure. You will be treated as though you are nameless and faceless. Your dignity is ripped from you by law enforcement and the government. Your freedom is taken away. You are called suspect, defendant, perpetrator, and, worst of all criminal. You feel lost, confused, scared and you are exposed to life-altering consequences ranging from losing your career to serving time in Florida jails or even in the Florida State Prison system… and that is only after one night.

Questions begin to run through your mind: What happens next? What am I going to do? Do I need a lawyer? Who can represent me and help me? You absolutely need a lawyer, otherwise, you may be defeated before your case even begins and you may not even know it. You need aggressive attorneys who are prepared to go to trial and fight for you and who will not always think: What is the best plea deal I can get for this client?  You need a firm comprised of former government lawyers who are familiar with the government’s strategies; can overcome them and use those strategies against the prosecution. Our goal as an innovative criminal defense firm is to treat you with compassion; the utmost professionalism and one that will always strive to give you the hard-hitting defense that you deserve.

Meltzer & Bell, P.A. is a Palm Beach County criminal defense firm founded by former felony special unit prosecutor, Lawrence Michael Meltzer, Esquire, and former major crimes Public Defender, Steven Kenneth Bell, Esquire. Meltzer & Bell, P.A. handles ALL State and Federal criminal matters in Palm Beach County and throughout the State of Florida. Mr. Meltzer and Mr. Bell have decades of combined experience in DUI and criminal trial work and, collectively, have taken over 200 cases to jury trial through verdict.

Steven Bell is a former Broward County public defender who worked in the felony division before leading the juvenile division. He also has years of experience practicing privately in South Florida. Bell graduated from the University of Florida in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in advertising, and he earned his juris doctor from Nova Southeastern University’s Sheppard Broad Law Center in 2004.

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Lawrence Meltzer is a former Broward County prosecutor who defends clients in Fort Lauderdale and surrounding areas of Broward County. Meltzer earned his bachelor’s degree from American University and his juris doctor from Nova Southeastern University’s Sheppard Broad Law Center. He spent four years working in the Broward County State Attorney’s Office before moving into private criminal defense practice.

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Ari Goldberg had been an Assistant State Attorney in Palm Beach for three and half years before joining Meltzer & Bell, P.A. Ari graduated from Florida International University College of Law in Miami in 2009 with his Juris Doctorate. Ari was first assigned to the County Court Trial Division while he was at the State Attorney’s Office where he served as the Lead Attorney. His responsibilities included supervising other ASA’s, handling hundreds of cases and making filing decisions on all DUI’s assigned to his division.

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Stephan Dobrinsky was born and raised in south Florida. For his undergraduate studies, he attended the University of Maryland where he majored in Philosophy. In 2011, he enrolled at the Levin College of Law at the University of Florida. Prior to joining Meltzer & Bell, P.A., Stephan worked as an Assistant Public Defender in Broward County for over three years, dedicating himself to the defense of indigent people charged with crimes.

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David Goudreau is a Partner at Meltzer & Bell, P.A. He studied Criminology at Florida State University, earning cum laude honors. It was there that he first discovered his passion for the law, working right alongside a local attorney who would later be appointed to the Federal Judiciary.

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Brandon Dinetz is Lead Counsel for the DUI and County Court Division at Meltzer & Bell, P.A. in West Palm Beach, Florida, and focuses his criminal defense practice on handling charges of DUI, DUI manslaughter, violations of probation, batteries, drug offenses, weapons offenses, thefts, traffic-related incidents, and incidents involving misdemeanor and felony allegations, representing defendants, victims and witnesses alike.

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Justin Duran was born and raised in Miami, Florida. He attended the University of South Florida where he majored in Criminology and minored in History. He graduated summa cum laude in 2015. Immediately thereafter, he began his legal studies at Florida International University College of Law. It was there that Justin began training to become a trial attorney. He received the highest honor, the Book Award, in his Trial Advocacy and Advanced Trial Advocacy classes. He joined the FIU Law Trial Team, where he immediately became a team captain and competed in statewide competitions. In November of 2017, he won first place at the Honorable E. Earle Zehmer Memorial Mock Trial Competition located in Orlando, Florida. As a result of his achievements, Justin was awarded a Trial Advocacy Scholarship by the Miami Chapter of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in May of 2018. He then graduated FIU Law with cum laude honors.

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Whitney Duteau was born and raised in Tampa, Florida. She completed her Bachelor’s Degree at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Upon graduating in 2010 Whitney began to pursue her law degree at Florida Coastal School Of Law in Jacksonville. She graduated in 2013 with Pro Bono honors for her outstanding dedication to the community. Prior to joining the Meltzer & Bell, P.A. family, Whitney worked as an Assistant Public Defender in the 19th Judicial Circuit (St. Lucie, Martin, Okeechobee, and Indian River counties) for 7 years. During her time at the Public Defender’s office, Whitney provided legal representation to those charged with misdemeanors and felonies.

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Paul Bernard is committed to serving his clients by treating them with dignity and respect, by humanizing them to the court and to opposing counsel, and by expeditiously and aggressively assisting them by protecting their legal, civil, and human rights through what is sometimes a daunting and complex legal system.

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Howard J. Schumacher serves Of Counsel at Meltzer & Bell, P.A., where is defends people in South Florida against criminal charges. He has practiced in Florida for more than 25 years. His work has included extensive practice in federal appeals, especially the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes Florida.

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Noelia Rodriguez has been with Meltzer and Bell for almost 2 years and is the direct Legal Assistant to Mr. David Goudreau, Esq. She is the firm's liaison to both Misdemeanor Probation and DUI Schools in Palm Beach County. Prior to that she was with Pride Integrated Services for 22 years, where she worked with Misdemeanor Probation Department and the DUI School.

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Carolina King is a legal assistant with Meltzer & Bell, P.A. She joined the firm in 2017 after having been employed with Olea and Porcella, P.A. since 2008. In addition to her responsibilities as direct assistant to Mr. Goldberg, Carolina manages the Traffic Ticket Defense Department.

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Anthony Carrera has been a legal assistant for over 4 years. Prior to joining Meltzer & Bell, P.A., Mr. Carrera worked for the Law Offices of Olea and Porcella, P.A. Anthony joined Meltzer and Bell P.A. team in January 2017. He works as a Legal Assistant within the field of traffic tickets, mailing and various administrative duties.

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- Head Legal Assistant for the Broward and Miami office.
- Decades of experience in criminal and traffic matters.
- Direct Legal Assistant for Larry Meltzer, Stephan Dobrinsky, and Justin Duran.

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Beverly is a full-time legal assistant responsible for running our treasure coast divisions with attorneys Whitney Duteau, Esq. and Paul Bernard, Esq. Prior to joining Meltzer & Bell, P.A., Beverly worked as a legal assistant with the Office of the Public Defender in the 19th Judicial Circuit, criminal division for 12 years in St. Lucie County.

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Giselle Scafordi joined the Meltzer & Bell, P.A. team this year as an administrative assistant. She is bilingual and helps run the day to day operations in the Palm Beach Division of the firm. Mrs. Scafordi works on our marketing program with our criminal division of the firm and helps maintain the flow and organization of the firm. After being a stay at home mom for almost 19 years, Giselle has come back to the workforce to help our firm be stronger than ever.

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Meltzer & Bell, P.A.is prepared to treat you as its most important client and our goal is to live up to highest ethical standards in the industry. Meltzer & Bell, P.A. is a client-driven law firm and believes in personal representation. Meltzer & Bell, P.A. believes that your life comes before all else and we will strive to always provide you with an aggressive and unmatched defense unique to the circumstances of your case. The firm believes in litigation and trial advocacy and leaving no stone unturned when it comes to defending you.

Once you hire Meltzer & Bell, P.A., you will have unique 24/7 access to the firm’s partners. Unlike many firms, we are available at night, on weekends, and even on holidays as criminal charges and arrests can occur at any time and you cannot be without a ready legal defense. You will be provided with direct e-mail and cell phone access to each of the firm’s founding partners and you will have the opportunity to have real-time communication concerning your case through the firm’s state-of-the-art case management system.

No matter the time of day, Meltzer & Bell, P.A., is ready to tackle your case with your future always in mind, day or night, no matter how simple or complex. Hiring Meltzer & Bell, P.A. also provides you unique access to a bank of thousands of legal pleadings, documents, and motions that have been used in the dismissal and reduction of hundreds of criminal charges on our clients’ behalf throughout the State of Florida and will have the opportunity to secure state of the art evidentiary presentation options in the defense of your case. You will have access to a roster of distinguished investigators and expert witnesses.

If you have been accused of a crime, call and speak to a partner at our Palm Beach County criminal defense firm immediately. Meltzer & Bell, P.A. is your first line of defense!