Choosing the right lawyer is the single most important decision in a DUI case.  

General practitioners are lawyers who handle a variety of legal matters such as divorces, personal injury cases, wills, probate and other matters of a routine nature.  They lack the specialized training and dedication required to defend DUI cases.   They are very much like family doctors and are adequate for routine matters that are not complicated and don't require a great deal of expertise.   You would not want your family doctor to do heart surgery.  You should never hire a general practitioner to defend a DUI case.  

General criminal practice lawyers are those who defend all type crimes.  There are specialist who defend violent felonies and are considered great lawyers because of their skills in this area.  They often attract notoriety because of the high profile cases they handle.   However, the vast majority of general criminal practice lawyers do not have the specialized training to defend DUI cases.

Beware of lawyers who have large adds in the phone book or use other media for advertising.   That type of advertising cost thousands of dollars which gets passed on to clients in the form of exorbitant fees.

Questions to ask a potential DUI Lawyer

1.How many years of DUI case experience do you have ?

My answer;   I have been defending DUI cases over 30 years.

2.How many continuing legal education (CLE) hours of DUI courses did you               take within the past 5 years ?

My answer;  I have taken over 300 hours of exclusive DUI courses.

3.How many DUI cases have you handled in the past 5 years ? 

My answer;  I've handled over 500 cases in the past 5 years.

4.How many DUI jury trials have you had  ?

My answer;  I've had over 50 DUI jury trials.

5.How many DUI case have you won  ?

My answer;  In over 30 years of practice I've won over 700 cases

                       through dismissals at preliminary hearings, motion hearings and trials.

6.How many employees assist you in your practice ?

My answer;  I have an associate attorney and a paralegal with 30 years                           of experience who work only for me.

7.What percentage of your practice is DUI defense ?

My answer;  95% of my practice is DUI defense.

8.What training do you have about how the Intoxilyzer 5000 works?

My answer;   I am a certified Operator and Maintenance Technician

9.Do you own an Intoxilyzer 5000 ?

My answer;  I have owned an Intoxilyzer 5000 for a number of years

and use it during trials to cross examine police officers and explain

to juries why it doesn't work correctly.

10.Are you certified in Fields Sobriety Testing (FSTs)

My answer;  I have the same certification for FST administration as

police officers do which enables me to find and expose the errors they                        commit in what I call "Stupid Police Tricks" which supposidly show

someone is impaired.