Few situations can be more nerve-wracking than being charged with a DUI. It’s easy to feel alone and isolated, and it’s hard to know who to turn to for help.
Obviously, you need a good DUI lawyer, but it’s also difficult to know what questions to ask. How do you know how to separate the wheat from the chaff and find a quality lawyer that offers the kind of representation that a firm like hartlevin.com can provide?
Start with experience. More specifically, how much does your lawyer have with DUI cases? What’s the case record of your potential candidate? Does he or she know the system and the players in the legal system to help get you the best possible outcome?
One of the hidden factors in many DUI cases is the background investigation. Your DUI attorney needs to have the resources to get a thorough review of the case to make sure the charges are accurate and all the necessary legal procedures were followed to the letter.
A good DUI lawyer will be happy to explain how this is done, and you should ask to speak to an investigator as well. You need to know the track record and methodology of that person as well, so be sure to delve into the details when you talk to that person.
Another important set of questions pertains to strategies. Every DUI is different, and while the basic strategies may be similar, there are always important points that should be emphasized. It may be the state’s case against you, the quality of the evidence, or your preferences when it comes to the ideal resolution. It all matters, and you need to know what your lawyer has planned and make sure you’re both on the same page when you go to court or settle.
The potential penalties and outcomes are important, too. This goes back to the lawyer’s experience with DUI cases—there’s a range of expected outcomes that the good ones will know about, and they’ll be able to make recommendations based on that knowledge.
The final set of questions revolves around what you can do to help your situation. Make sure you know that you’re willing to improve your outcome, and some penalties may be more important than others.
Ask if a plea agreement is right for you, and find out how long it will take to resolve your case. The answers will tell you a lot about the quality of the attorney you hire, and you want to end up with a firm like hartlevin.com to get the best result possible.
[I broke this down as an overview of the set of questions to ask when hiring a DUI lawyer, and I used the keyword twice as it was spelled out in the instructions. Please let me know if you need anything else.]
