Questions to Ask When Choosing a DUI Attorney

There are over a million laws in the United States and thousands in Ohio alone. If you are going through a divorce in Ohio, you want a lawyer who specializes in divorce. You don’t want a DUI defense lawyer or an attorney with a practice that encompasses personal injury, criminal defense, probate, and divorce. Similarly, if you are facing a DUI/OVI charge in Ohio, you want an attorney or lawyer that focuses on Ohio DUI defense. The more specialized or focused the attorney is, the more knowledgeable the lawyer will be in that particular area of focus, particularly when it comes to DUI defense.

Why? Because the DUI/OVI law in Ohio is extremely complex. Most people aren’t aware of this but the Murder statute in Ohio consists of one page that contains three sentences made up of 118 words. Conversely, the Ohio DUI statute consists of sixteen pages that contain 139 paragraphs and thousands of words. If you read that last sentence closely, there are five times more pages in the DUI statute than there are sentences in the Murder statute. As such, there are a lot of details and strategies in DUI defense that the average criminal defense lawyer simply does not know.

If you have an Ohio DUI case, you should consider talking to a top Ohio DUI lawyer to see if he can get the case dismissed or reduced to a lesser offense. The penalties on these pages only apply to drivers who are convicted of DUI/OVI. An experienced Ohio DUI lawyer may be able to prevent that from happening.

Many successful criminal defense and DUI lawyers in Ohio start their career as prosecuting attorneys. Why? The quantity of cases they handle as a prosecuting attorney generally gives them a better understanding and more familiarity with the Ohio DUI laws. For example, a general practice lawyer who handles cases in criminal defense, divorce, Ohio DUI defense and personal injury probably handles just a handful of DUI cases each year. In the alternative, a prosecuting attorney who is in court every day likely handles hundreds of Ohio DUI cases each year. Maybe thousands. Because of the wealth of experience that former Ohio prosecuting attorneys bring to the table, they are generally more knowledgeable about DUI defense than a lawyer who started as a sole practitioner or part of a firm.

If you have a drinking and driving case pending in court, you should consider talking to a top DUI lawyer in Ohio to see if he can get the case dismissed or reduced to a lesser offense. The penalties on these pages only apply to drivers who are convicted of DUI/OVI. An experienced Ohio DUI/OVI lawyer may be able to get your case dismissed, in which case, there is no punishment.

The DUI/OVI law in Ohio changes on a regular basis. Whether it’s the Ohio Revised Code, the Ohio Administrative Code, or Judicial Case Law interpreting DUI cases, the regulatory framework is different today than it was last year. Or the year before that. One of the best ways for an Ohio DUI/OVI defense lawyer to stay on top of these changes is to take annual courses in Ohio DUI defense. You don’t want a lawyer who takes courses related to personal injury, criminal defense, probate, or divorce to handle your DUI case. Why? Because they’re not likely to be on top Ohio DUI defense lawyer techniques and DUI defense strategies that work in Ohio courts.

There are many lawyer advocacy groups including Super Lawyers, AVVO, Martindale Hubble, and the American Society of Legal Advocates. While somewhat prestigious and important, induction in those groups don’t necessarily mean an attorney is a successful Ohio DUI defense lawyer. More germane, the DUI attorney groups generally endorse lawyers who focus on DUI defense. When talking to attorneys, ask if the lawyer is a member of the National Advocacy for DUI defense and the National College for DUI Defense. Induction in some of the aforementioned groups will tell you that the attorney is more likely to focus on being a successful Ohio DUI defense lawyer.

This may surprise you but the lower the number, the better. To understand what I mean, ask yourself a few basic questions. (1) If a lawyer has an annual case load of a hundred clients or more, how can the Ohio DUI lawyer give your case the time and attention it demands? (2) In an environment where the legal landscape changes on a daily basis, how can a general practice lawyer who practices criminal defense, divorce, personal injury and DUI defense keep up with  emerging DUI defense techniques and Ohio DUI defense strategies? (3) If a top Ohio DUI/OVI lawyer has five or six hearing scheduled the same day as yours, and minimal time between each hearing, how well can the Ohio lawyer recall the specific facts of your case and credibly present them to a judge, jury or prosecutor? The answer is simple: They can’t. Trust me when I say that you want an experienced Ohio DUI/OVI lawyer who handles a reasonable number of cases each year, rather than one who accepts all of them. Unfortunately, that means the lawyer may charge a little more for their representation, however, it is probably worth it.

You probably want to be represented by a lawyer who is experienced in DUI defense techniques and DUI defense strategies that work in Ohio courts.. However, since many attorneys are part of a firm, a senior Ohio DUI lawyer may provide you with a consultation and then assign your case to a junior lawyer. In addition, you may have a different lawyer with you at court for each hearing in your case. If you want the Ohio DUI/OVI lawyer with whom you speak in your consultation to be there with you throughout the legal process, then be sure to ask who will be handling your case.

Some Ohio DUI defense lawyers charge a “flat fee” but don’t tell you that it will cost more if you want to obtain driving privileges, file a motion to dismiss evidence against you or take the case to trial. Then, when you want to take the case to trial, the defense lawyer reminds you about the trial fee. This is a scary proposition for most DUI defendants and demonstrates the importance of fully discussing the case at your initial consultation. The alternative side to that coin is an unscrupulous DUI defense lawyer encouraging his client to plead guilty rather than losing money on a case because he didn’t charge enough. Only an experienced Ohio DUI attorney will be able to price your DUI case appropriately after a full and frank discussion of the facts. Unfortunately, that may mean you should stay away from the attorney with the lowest price if you want a top Ohio DUI lawyer representing you in court.