Benefits Of Having a Good DUI Lawyer or Criminal Defense Attorney (A DUI is covered by criminal law and is not just a glorified traffic ticket):

1.  Can usually appear in court for you so you don’t have to go (in misdemeanor cases) – If a felony you have to go to your court appearance – (my office regularly appears for people that are either from out of the area or don’t want to do their public appearance in front of a judge).

2. Might be able to save your license (remember you only have 10 calendar days to request a DMV hearing to protect your right to drive) – my office has been doing DMV hearings and saving people’s right to drive since 1997.

3. Might be able to save you from going to jail – if that might apply in your case – make sure your attorney knows jail/prison alternatives.  We’ve regularly been helping people, even in 3rd offenses where the legal minimum is 120 days (local custom is usually longer) avoid having to spend unproductive time in jail.  Make sure your attorney knows who the judge is going to be on your case before you go to court – if they don’t know, don’t hire them!

4. Might have techniques to save you money on insurance – my office provides a special trade secrets report to its’ clients in an attempt to help them save up to thousands of dollars on their insurance.

5. Peace of Mind – it’s a bad enough situation to begin with, you deserve a little certainty with your uncertain situation.  We’ve been walking people through their tough times for years – we don’t represent criminals, we help people stuck in the legal maze find the light at the end of the tunnel.

Drawbacks of a Criminal Lawyer:

1. You may not be able to trust them…marketing can make anyone look good.  People will say they are an “expert DUI attorney”, or the “best DUI attorney” but in reality they’ve never taught DUI defense nor been a qualified expert in either court or a DMV hearing.  I’ve been paid to teach DUI defense to private attorneys, public defenders, and even the DMV legal team has paid to attend where I’ve been teaching DMV defense.  Further, I’m actually qualified to teach officers on how to give Field Sobriety Tests.

2. They say they specialize in “DUI”, but in reality the California State Bar does not currently recognize DUI as a speciality – I don’t “specialize” in DUI defense because that would mean I don’t pay attention to the details of the law (there is no State Bar Speciality program).  I wouldn’t hire an attorney that doesn’t pay attention to the details of stuff that can get them into trouble – if they don’t know the basic rules taught in law school that cover them, how do you expect them to know the details on something as complicated at DUI to keep you out of trouble?

3. Good DUI lawyers cost money – be careful the cheapest ones, some advertise $1499, 999, or even less, bragging about tons of experience, but pay attention…you won’t ever talk to the “main” advertising attorney (many advertise in Monterey have never stepped foot in the Salinas court house – where most DUI cases are prosecuted) – they say they have law offices offices all over, but in reality they just contract out to the cheap attorneys you could hire anyway (for less money) – which you should probably avoid anyway if you really want full attention to your case (how much are they going to pay their attorney they contract to do the work after they pay their large advertising budget and profit for themselves?).  When you hire an attorney from my office that is the attorney that is your attorney on the case. To be honest, I’m not the cheapest, but if you are on a budget and don’t need someone with all my qualifications, we’ll try and find someone within your budget that will help you meet your goals.  If it can’t realistically be done, we’ll tell you.

4.  Their case load may be too high to pay close attention to your case.  Many private attorneys are also public defender alternate attorneys so they have to carry a high case load.  Ask them if they take cases appointed from the court.  Why pay for someone to pay special attention to your case if they don’t have the time.  Personally I don’t take more than 4 DUI cases in a month.

5.  You may not actually need a criminal defense attorney and therefore your wasting your money.  Depending on your goals and the facts of your case either 1) You actually don’t need an attorney to meet your goals or 2) Under the facts of your case no attorney can get you your outcome.  At my office, we run an outcome focused practice.  Even though we are attorneys, we are not just here to take your money (we turn down more cases than we take).  If we can’t meet your goals, we’ll tell you upfront – we want satisfied clients, not upset clients – this town is too small to provide bad service.

Some people think a DUI (Driving Under the Influence) or Drunk Driving Charge is just a traffic violation, but any good criminal defense attorney will be able to explain the serious nature…Jail, loss of license, heavy fines, limitation on travel/vacations, etc.

A DUI can be charged as either a Felony (in case of accident, or if you have any prior DUIs), which can include prison time or Misdemeanor, which can include jail time.

Take a look around my site and see if you feel you need or want my office to appear in court for you and help you through the situation, please give us a call (831) 275-0990.