What should I be Sure To Ask My DUI Attorney About? Part 2 of 2
By Dan Noll on April 16th, 2015 in
The other thing you want to check the attorney with is has he ever defended DUIs before. Some attorneys will come out of working at the state’s attorney’s office and they’ve prosecuted 10, 15, 100, 1,000 DUIs before, but they’ve never defended one. The thought process is different. You want to make sure you have an attorney who is in the defensive state of mind, who understands what questions, what evidence can be brought out to help defend a person from DUI.
Other questions you may want to ask is: What is their cost? How many DUIs have they handled before,? Do they understand how the statutory summary suspension figures into their case? Is there additional fees for going to trial? Would they recommend a bench trial or a jury trial? Generally speaking, what kind of case do I have? Is it a good case? Do I have a good chance? Are there any issues?
A lot of things, to be fair, a defense attorney cannot tell you at the time that you initially meet with them. It’s like going to a doctor’s office and saying “I’m sick.” The doctor just can’t look at a person and say “You have liver cancer.” They need x-rays, blood work, and all the test. In our business, DUI defense, we need to see the police reports. We need to see the video. We need to see the labs and everything else that comes along with the case in order to give a fair diagnosis.
However, an attorney when you are meeting with them should be willing to sit down with you, go over the police reports. Go over the video after you hire them, and make sure they’ll take the time to sit down with you, meet with you, and make sure you understand your case. What the strengths are, what the weaknesses are, and have a full and frank discussion. Regardless of whether you have a good case or bad case, they should be able to explain what your case is and everything related about it to you, and what your options are.