You are driving home from having what seemed to be a great time out with your friends or family and all of a sudden you see flashing red and blue lights in your rear view mirror.
You immediately pull over but your heart is racing because you know you may have had one too many alcoholic drinks.
The police officer knocks on your window and shines a bright flashlight at you.
They tell you to step out of the car to take some tests which seem impossible to pass, especially because of your nervous state of mind.
The officer asks if you want to take a breathalyzer test.
Should you take the test? What if you fail? The next thing you know you are pushed into the back seat of the officer's vehicle where you spend the next 30 minutes freaking out about the future.
What should you do? It can be very hard to decide if and when you should take this breathalyzer test.
Hopefully your one and only call you get when you arrive at the station was to tell one of your closest friends or family members to call you a great DUI defense attorney.
If you didn't do that and are just reading this article now then I want to shed some light on the reasons to hire a lawyer that specializes in DUIs.
1) Value: One of the biggest complaints I have heard about hiring any attorney regardless of what your legal problems are is that it's very costly.
A DUI attorney is going to be no different in that sense, but in the long run hiring a lawyer can save you a lot of time and money.
A lawyer could help get your fines, jail sentence, or even community service time lowered.
Maybe an attorney helps you get your license reinstated faster, that could be priceless to you if you need to drive for work.
Some people have the philosophy that you should go with the cheapest lawyer you can find because they think they are all the same.
I would have to disagree.
Imagine if that was the case for someone fixing your broken tooth or repairing your heart? Would you find the cheapest dentist or doctor you could? My guess is probably not, so think of the value and remember that they are there to win your case and be on your side.
If you do not hire an experienced attorney you may get a court appointed lawyer who could be very weak in the driving under the influence area of law.
2) Errors: What most of the general public doesn't know is that there could be many errors that happened on the night you were arrested which will help strengthen your case.
Your lawyer will be able to work with each of these mistakes and exploit them.
Apparently, the tests the officers have you take after they have pulled you over have been known to be very inaccurate.
Most of the time the arresting officer's video camera is turned on when they get out of their car to challenge your sobriety.
A good attorney can get this video and can analyze the interaction between you and the officer.
Competent attorneys will also know when and how to question these facts as they are presented in court and will call on expert witnesses to contest the validity of the results.
Good representation will also know the correct way to argue the validity of your blood alcohol content if you are taking prescription drugs or over the counter medicines.
These types of prescription or over the counter medicines can really effect the outcomes of a breathalyzer test.
3) Experience: Never discount how many cases your lawyer has handled and what the outcome of those cases are.
The more extensive DUI experience that the attorney you hire has the better chances you have of avoiding a horrible situation.
A well practiced and savvy attorney can help put a speedy end to the entire situation and there are cases where they can help in keeping a criminal conviction off your record.
In this day and age prospective employers are looking at everything, including running background checks.
By deciding to go it alone without a lawyer you could be jeopardizing your future employment.
As always do your research on the legal representative you decide on by visiting the American Bar Association's website.
The site can direct you to your state's bar association and you can see if the person has any previous suspensions or complaints filed against them.
Whatever you decide, make sure to act quickly in finding the best driving under the influence lawyer you can, because all of the charges and fines against you can add up rather quickly and they are not going away.
The right person in your corner will answer all the questions you have and prepare you to fight for your rights.