DUI Attorney's Fees
Besides potentially going to jail, for any Class A misdemeanor, or any felony charge, losing your license, losing your job and having a permanent criminal record, most people facing a DUI charge also worry about costs, especially in regards to attorneys' fees.DUI cases are difficult, highly specialized, and time consuming. If you want a good DUI lawyer with extensive knowledge of the law, DUI specific training, and experience, expect to pay at least a couple thousand dollars.This cost can vary depending on whether you are facing an administratice license suspension, second offense or aggravated DWI, or require expert testimony to put forth your best possible defense. Even though I only do DWI defense, I still have to limit the amount of people that I can help.
Lawyers’ fees are going to vary, but remember, cheap and good is usually not available. You can also find that a bad lawyer can also be expensive, but you should expect to pay more for quality representation and for a focused dwi defense lawyer. Some lawyers have to charge so much money just because they have incredible amounts of overhead (such as a full page yellow page ad which can cost $50,000 a year).
Attorney Hynes handles most cases on a flat fee agreement. This means he bills one fee for handling your case, so you know up front how much it will cost.
The Flat fee does not include any experts or witnesses that you may decide to retain for your case, or further analysis of a blood or breath sample.
Can a DUI lawyer help?
Having a lawyer may drastically improve your chances of beating the charge or getting a favorable plea bargain. It could very well make the difference between being found guilty or found not guilty.
It may be tempting to try to save money and represent yourself. Although you may save money on attorney's fees, that savings could end up costing you a lot more in the future in the form of fines, license suspensions, jail time, lost employment, etc.
There are two adages that come to mind when you are accused of drunk driving and trying to decide whether to hire a DUI attorney:
* A person who represents himself has a fool for a client; and
* This is the rainy day you've been saving for.
Sometimes the best thing for a case is to have the right DWI Lawyer with a reputation talk to the prosecutor about your case. I have had numeous cases where the prosecutor offered a plea involving a DWI conviction when the client spoke to them. But, after hiring me and discussing the case with the prosecutor they were willing to either reduce the charge or dismiss it.
Representing yourself in a DUI case:
If you chose to represent yourself, you will be held to the same standard as a practicing lawyer. This means that you must know the rules of evidence and criminal procedure. You must be able to formulate a proper question, and you must make objections at the proper time in order to preserve your rights.
Some judges will go out of their way to help guide self-represented people through the system, but others will be annoyed and frustrated by a non-lawyer trying to play lawyer for his or her own case. How do you think the hospital administrator would react if you, as a patient, announced that you were going to come into her hospital and operate on yourself? Although the analogy is absurd because it is unthinkable that a person would operate on himself in a hospital, people do try to represent themselves in court every day in DUI cases.
If your case needs to be litigated, it is NOT a good idea to try to go it alone.
Hopefully you have reviewed the penalties section of this website to see what some of the penalties may be in your case if you are found guilty.
After knowing the potential penalties if you are convicted, my question to you is, can you afford NOT to hire an experienced DUI attorney? An arrest is not a conviction. Make the State prove their case. If they cannot, you keep your license!