| How Do I Hire a Top DUI Lawyer?
There is no simple answer to this question, but here are some things to consider:
1. Advanced Training — Take a close look at the lawyer’s background in DUI defense. Has and does he or she take advanced course work in drunk driving defense? Does he or she have any specialized training in field sobriety or chemical testing? Search the Internet profiles of any attorney you consider to confirm that he or she actually specializes in “drunk driving defense.”
2. Specialized Membership or Professional Affiliations — Once you have these names and have checked out their websites, before you call any one attorney, consider their "involvement" and "commitment" to the field of drunk driving defense. See if the candidate lawyer associates with the following organizations: National College for DUI Defense, Inc; The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), (many states and even a few large metropolitan cities have formed local affiliate branches of the NACDL.
3. Disciplinary Actions — Has the attorney ever been disciplined by the Board of Professional Responsibility of the State bar of his/her practice location? Contact the American Bar Association on line to find links to all state Bar associations.
Once you have the name of your top choice, and perhaps your number two choice, it is now time to interview them, to see if they fit YOUR needs. The supposed “best” OWI lawyer may not be the best one for you if your personalities clash. Because you will be forging a very personal relationship with your attorney to help you during this stressful time, it is important that you select an attorney who makes you feel comfortable as well as confident.
Write your questions down before you even go in and ask them about the following:
A) Seminar Speaker - The top attorneys in each state are asked to speak for OWI-DUI seminars in their state and others.
B) Fees and Fee Structure - How does the attorney set his or her fees? Most drunken driving lawyers work on a flat fee basis. As you might expect, highly experienced attorneys often charge much higher fees than younger, less experienced lawyers. For many persons facing the extreme penalties of an OWI conviction, price is secondary to an excellent track record for results. One ex-State trooper turned DUI attorney from Louisiana, Glynn Delatte, ends each e-mail with this maxim: "Good lawyers aren't cheap, and cheap lawyers aren't good.”
C) Focus of practice - Most truly great OWI attorneys either restrict their cases to only drunk driving (and drugged driving) or at least stay entirely within the field of criminal law.
D) Years in Practice - There is no substitute for experience.
E) Lawyer - Paralegal ratio - A busy, experienced DWI-DUI trial attorney will have 1 to 2 paralegals assisting him/her. Trial preparation requires more time than processing guilty pleas. A knowledgeable paralegal is worth his or her weight in gold.
F) Caseload - A trial attorney may limit his or her caseload to between approximately 40 and 80 cases per year. Make sure your attorney will not be too busy to satisfy YOUR needs.
G) Use of Technology - Technology has revolutionized the practice of OWI law probably as much or more than any other area in the legal profession. Lawyers who master technology deliver legal services with better quality and can often leverage technology to deliver legal services less expensively. Ask not only how they utilize technology in their office but also how they use it in the courtroom.
H) Promising too much - Be skeptical about lawyers who promise or even guarantee success. In many instances, it can even be unethical to promise a particular result. This is especially true if such promises or guarantees are made during an initial interview before the full facts of your case are known. If such promises are made, you are probably well advised to seek other representation.
I) Educational Background - You can go to the ABA web site to look up your attorney's law school. If it is not listed, there could be a problem.
J) Publications - Lawyers who write frequently about their area of law practice tend to keep themselves better informed about their area of specialty. Publications also help demonstrate that the lawyer has a great command of the subject matter, but perhaps even more important, is passionate about the work they do. It is also true that publications can help establish the lawyer’s reputation among fellow lawyers and judges.
K) Promotional Materials - Pay attention to a law firm's client information package, marketing, Internet and promotional materials. Cheesy written materials usually come from sloppy law firms.
L) Engagement Letters - Beware of lawyers who do not put their fee agreements in writing. While this is not an absolute requirement, the rules of professional ethics in Michigan strongly encourage written fee agreements. Also, read the fine print in your engagement letters or "fee agreements." Make sure you understand what is, and what is not, included in the engagement fee. Otherwise, when looking at the fee charged and comparing it with what is charged by other lawyers, you may not be comparing “apples with apples.”
M) Ethics - Run as fast as you can from lawyers that tell you it is okay to lie or otherwise act dishonestly in your case. Unethical lawyers rarely have good reputations, and this will only hurt you in the long run. Judges never forget lawyers that try to “pull one over” in their courtrooms.
N) Personality Compatibility - At the end of the day, a lawyer's "bedside manner" can mean a lot to how the overall relationship goes. Find a lawyer who really cares about winning, and be realistic about your level of need in being "nurtured" (or not being nurtured) by the attorney. In the end, the question to ask yourself is, “Is this the attorney I want spearheading my defense?”
O) Communication - The number one complaint against lawyers in this country is not poor work quality. It is failing to communicate with their clients. You are paying a lot of money to hire a lawyer and it is your right to expect to be kept informed of developments and have your calls and e-mails returned in a timely manner.
Note: Much of what you’ve read here is adopted from Mr. Barone’s Book: The DUI Book - A Citizen’s Handbook on Fighting a Drunk Driving Charge.
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