How To Select a DUI Attorney

If you’ve been arrested for drunk driving, don’t even think about proceeding without a lawyer. A person who represents himself or herself in court has a fool for a client. You need a good lawyer, even if you're guilty.

First, even if you believe that you're guilty, you're still legally presumed innocent. A good lawyer can evaluate the strength of the proof against you in ways that you cannot do yourself.

Second, a major issue in every case is whether the police overstepped their bounds and unlawfully stopped, arrested, tested and charged you. A good lawyer will evaluate whether you were treated properly. If your rights were violated, there may be no case against you.

Finally, the help of a good lawyer is critical in limiting the damage that a DUI case or conviction can have on your family, your life and your livelihood.

Choose A Lawyer Experienced In Fighting DUI Cases. There are various kinds of lawyers out there, and you will need to know how to choose. In general, you will find the following:

Public defenders.

Discount lawyers.

General Practitioners.

Expensive criminal and DUI lawyers.

Extremely expensive criminal and DUI lawyers.

Avoid the discount lawyer. You will get only what you pay for, and that won’t be much. Discount lawyers make their money by handling a high volume of cases or by maintaining unreasonably low office overhead (no secretary, etc). These lawyers are not skilled in analyzing and defending cases. Rather, they are skilled in quickly disposing of cases by guilty pleas to maintain their profit margin. Be skeptical of any lawyer who charges a retainer less than $1500.00 on a first offense, and $2000.00 on a second offense..