by Kat Oliver

Created on: February 16, 2009

Having spent over twenty years as a paralegal in Georgia, I have a few warnings regarding finding a good DUI lawyer.

Do not choose a lawyer because the telephone directory says he specializes in DUI. Do not choose one who advertizes how many hundreds of DUI cases he has handled. Quantity and quality are not the same.

If a lawyer states he and the D.A. or the judge, are good friends or that he has known them since law school, then "buyer beware". Beware if he quotes you a high fee that includes a retainer and an hourly rate.

Many lawyers get the retainer fee and begin charging you an hourly rate immediately. They consider the retainer basically money just for the aggravation of taking your case. You need to ask the lawyer exactly what the retainer fee covers. A retainer should be funds applied to the initial work performed on your case such as investigating the circumstances surrounding your DUI charge, the officer's background, proper calibration of the DUI equipment, the reason for your traffic stop, and so forth. You should not be charged hourly fees until he has invested sufficient time in your case to use up the retainer fee. You are entitled to an itemized summary of all work performed.

Remember, all lawyers know the D. A. and the judge. They work with them on every criminal case they take. Perhaps they were school mates but no District Attorney or Judge is going to incriminate himself in any unethical behavior to prevent a stranger from receiving a DUI conviction. There was a time when a lawyer could ask a D.A. or a judge to dismiss a case and it could simply disappear from the court's docket. But the laws have been revised and rewritten over the years and tickets can't be torn up anymore. Everything has to be accounted for with an appropriate explanation. There is a paper trail that reveals everything from initial charge to final disposition of a case.

If a lawyer tells you up front that he can get the charge dismissed or reduced to a lesser charge, something is amiss. He'll just file your case away until he gets a hearing notice from the court and tell you how hard he tried to deal with the D.A. or the judge and how surprised he is by their lack of cooperation.

DUI is taken very seriously these days because of what could have happened while you were under the influence. It doesn't matter that you didn't have a wreck or sideswipe something or injure or kill someone. What matters is that you could have done any one or all of those things.

You want a lawyer

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