- Will the attorney I hire be the attorney who will actually handle my case?
- How much should I expect to pay?
- Beware the dump truck!
- Is the attorney a member of the California Deuce Defenders?
- Does the attorney own a copy of California Drunk Driving Law?
- Is the lawyer creative and sociable?
- Is he or she recognized by others as a leader in the field?
- Will my case be dismissed? What's a "wet reckless"?
- Don't try to hire a good lawyer in order to plead guilty at the first court appearance.
- Is the attorney a member of the National College of DWI Defense?
- Wouldn't it be best to hire a local attorney who's friendly with the judge and prosecutor?
- A judge/cop/prosecutor told a fellow I know that "Mr. Soandso" is really good.
- Don't follow bad advice.
- Won't the judge be upset with me if I hire a lawyer and fight the charges?
- Don't expect The Dream Team in the boonies.
You probably want to be personally represented by a big-name, widely respected and experienced attorney. But simply hiring such an attorney doesn't mean he or she will personally handle your case.
Attorney's sometimes hire associates - attorney employees. The best lawyers sometimes have an associate that works directly with them on cases. These associates are more like an assistant to the big name. But if an associate is directly handling your case, be sure it's only at routine uncontested court hearings and definitely not at a trial without your consent. Even then, the associate must be well-trained, closely supervised and highly experienced.
With partners it's a different story. If the other attorney is a partner of the big name, that person is more likely to be a real ace in their own right. A partner, as opposed to an associate, shares ownership of the law firm, and has a bigger stake in its reputation. Big-names don't partner up with someone that isn't an equal.
If you suspect a bait-and-switch, ask who will actually make the court appearances in your case. Ask who the attorney will be if the case goes to trial. Ask these questions prior to making an appointment to see the attorney, and insist that you want to see the attorney him or herself, not an associate or non-attorney employee. If the big name won't see you to accept a retainer, imagine how difficult it'll be getting him or her to take an interest in your case.
Remember this: If you're interviewed by a non-attorney who seems more like a salesman than a lawyer, you can probably expect to encounter the same unprofessional attitude from that law firm throughout your case. Lawyers have a Code of Professional Conduct they must adhere to, backed up by the enforcement efforts of the State Bar of California. Non-attorneys have no enforceable rules for ethical conduct.
All the attorneys affiliated with "The Recognized Leaders in Drunk Driving Defense"© are big name lawyers, known among other attorneys in California to be the recognized leaders in drunk driving defense, the best of the best. Several are known nationally among DUI defense attorneys. None of them will have a non-attorney interview you. They will personally try your case if it goes to trial.
Each attorney has something to offer that sets him or her apart from the others. For some, it's low fees. For others, it's an exceptional reputation and high skills to match. It's a fact of life that you won't find both traits in the same lawyer. If it's low fees you're looking for, don't expect exceptionally high skills. But a caveat is important here: you will find an occasional lawyer whose high fees are based upon a superficial appeal which is best expressed as: "Who'd want a $500 lawyer when they could get a $5000 lawyer?"
Criminal defense attorneys generally charge an upfront flat fee pretrial retainer, rather than billing by the hour like civil law attorneys do. Some have a hybrid fee structure, crediting the retainer against hourly billing. But most retainers simply cover everything needed short of trial. For a big-name DUI attorney with a statewide reputation expect to pay $3500 to $7000 or more for a misdemeanor first offense retainer, depending on the location and the attorney's reputation. If you have one or more prior convictions within seven years, expect to pay substantially more. (The more prior convictions you have the more serious the penalties and the more vigorous the defense must be.) The retainer generally covers both the DMV hearing and the court case, except for trial, which is generally billed additional.
"Dump truck" is what lawyers call other lawyers who mostly just plead their clients guilty, instead of trying cases. Unfortunately, there are a large number of them out there. They can be spotted in several ways.
Any lawyer that quickly leads the conversation into talk about plea-bargaining, so it seems that is the primary focus, is suspect (unless there's several prior convictions or a high alcohol reading). Another sign of the dump truck is promises to get it all taken care of quickly with the least inconvenience on your part. One such attorney advertises, "NO COURT APPEARANCES, NO TIME OFF WORK". You can't fight the charges that way. Not surprisingly, his ad also says, "LOW COST".
Dump truck lawyers often run DUI mills with a large number of associate attorneys. Or, worse yet, attorneys that are hired on a per-appearance basis - they're paid maybe $100 each time they go to court. One sure sign of the dump truck is a low retainer fee, either alone or coupled with a comparatively astronomical trial fee. Ask up front how much the daily trial fee is. A reasonable fee - one designed to adequately compensate the attorney for hours of trial preparation as well as 8 to 10 or more hours per day during the trial itself - is between $1000 and $2500 per day. Such a fee is reasonable without being primarily intended to discourage clients from pursuing a trial.
Ask how many trials each of the firm's lawyers tried in the past year. Though the number varies from county to county, a skilled DUI attorney will try at least 6 to 10 or more cases per year and will win at least half of them. Count a "not guilty" verdict on all counts as a win. A hung jury with a great plea bargain deal afterwards is also a win. No plea bargain without a trial is ever counted as a win. If the lawyer got the deal without a trial, think how much better a deal he could have gotten with a trial.
The "Recognized Leaders"© attorneys won't hesitate to take your case to trial if that is what it takes. We're fighters, not dump trucks.
The best attorneys participate as speakers in drunk driving defense seminars for other lawyers. There are two to four big statewide seminars per year on this subject in California, put on or cosponsored by the California Public Defenders Association, California Attorneys for Criminal Justice or the California Deuce Defenders. Those who are asked back to speak again and again are generally recognized by others as leaders in their field.
Most of the "Recognized Leaders"© attorneys are regular speakers at seminars for other attorneys on drunk driving defense.
There's about 135,000 lawyers in California. About 10,000 of them will take your money to represent you in a drunk driving case. Only about 225 of them are serious enough about this area of practice to join the California Deuce Defenders, the only statewide bar association of lawyers who do DUI defense. A "Regular Member" is an attorney who meets the minimum qualifications for membership, with an added interest in staying up on development and networking with other attorneys in his or her field. A "Specialist Member" is one who has met strict requirements for skills and experience certification by the organization (see the membership application for details). There's only about 30 specialist members. (Associate members are non-attorney professionals with an interest in drunk driving defense.)
All the "Recognized Leaders"© attorneys are all "Specialist Members" of the California Deuce Defenders.
It's agreed among experienced attorneys in the field of drunk driving defense that you cannot do a competent job of defending people accused of drunk driving without a copy of California Drunk Driving Law. Nevertheless, only about 1200 attorneys own a current copy of it. Why not more? In one recent sales effort 1000 lawyers were called on the telephone and offered a 30-day free trial. They were chosen because every single one of them had a yellow page ad saying he or she handled drunk driving cases and each of them had never owned a copy of the book. Though we sold some books, most of them weren't interested. Those attorneys are still out there taking people's money to represent them in drunk driving cases.
All the "Recognized Leaders"© attorneys are on the Editorial Board of California Drunk Driving Law.
Criminal trials involve a process known among lawyers as "suspending reality" for the jury. That involves, number one, making the jury feel good about liking you. That's so the jury can willingly accept the possibility that you may be innocent, without thinking too much about all those other people who want to convict you (judge, prosecutor and cops). Winning trials also requires creative skills, presenting each case to the jury with another new angle that's unexpected by the prosecutor. It's kind of like planning the plays for a Superbowl. All this takes a lawyer with reasonably good acting ability and great social skills. If you feel like the attorney you're considering hiring is a person who is creative, feels comfortable and confident, and puts you at ease (as best as can be, under the circumstances), you've probably got a winner. But you'll need to talk to the attorney him or herself to make this determination.
We're all friendly, likable, persuasive, and creative folks here at Kuwatch Law Offices.
Dismissal of all DUI charges is a routine procedure when the defendant plea bargains for a reduced charge, such as alcohol related reckless driving, also known as "wet reckless". When that happens, all drunk driving charges are dismissed and the client pleads guilty to the freshly added lesser charge.
If an attorney claims that drunk driving charges have often been dismissed for his or her clients, ask if those clients were convicted of anything else instead. A wet reckless for first offenders conviction is nearly as bad as a drunk driving conviction. It counts as a prior offense if you're arrested again later, and much of the punishment is the same as for drunk driving. Insurance companies know what it is, and will increase premiums accordingly, you will be in assigned risk category. Of course, it can still be a good deal for some clients, especially those who already have prior offenses on their records. That's because there's no increased penalty for reckless driving based upon previous convictions of drunk driving. But you don't hire a good lawyer to get a wet reckless for a first offense, at least not when you have a good case.
A quick guilty plea at the first court appearance may occasionally be justified. Good lawyers prefer not to accept cases for clients who just want to plead guilty with a attorney by their side. Dump trucks do that routinely, but good DUI attorneys won't take a case like that unless it's a first offense with a high blood alcohol result and the client just wants a quick review and advice. This service takes two to four hours, including the time spent with you on the phone and in the office. So it's worth about five hundred dollars.
Once again, there's pros and cons which probably balance out. But if the attorney makes it a major selling point, one begins to wonder if there's anything more substantial that the attorney has to offer
Kuwatch Law Offices attorneys only handle cases locally. The exception are two attorneys who handle cases all over Northern California.
Don't you just love a good loyal puppy that never barks loud and always does what it's told? So do judges. I have many times heard judges heap praise on some of the worst dump trucks. I've rarely heard praise for a truly exceptional attorney, but it can happen.
This one's tough. How do you know when advice is bad? One attorney's website advises people that a lawyer probably won't help them much if the blood alcohol level is 0.12% or more. If that doesn't sound right to you, you're correct. The alcohol level is important, but not entirely conclusive, and 0.12% isn't really very high anyway. In fact, it's a low-range reading that will be hard to prosecute except in the state's worst courts.
The constitution prohibits punishing you for asserting your right to a trial. Despite the constitution though, a very small number of judges do threaten greater penalties later for not pleading guilty early. This tactic often works with less experienced attorneys. Other attorneys can call the judge's bluff, outsmart him or her, or arrange for a different judge to handle the case.
Like most judges, those handling misdemeanors are extremely puffed up with their own importance. On top of that, the meanest of these judges are often those that have been stuck for eternity handling traffic tickets and misdemeanors, because their colleagues recognize their intellectual limitations. Combine a huge ego with incompetence, and you have a person who replaces hard knowledge with bluster and intimidation. A good lawyer armed with a solid background in the law, and a willingness to challenge this type of judge can often prevail over even the worst of them. After all, isn't that what you hire a good lawyer for?
But if you feel like you'll just never be able to get rid of that knot in your stomach that shows up when you question authority, and you're too frightened to fight the charges in spite of that knot, you'll have to plead guilty . . . even if you aren't. It takes courage to have things your way. Sometimes it takes a lot of it.
For more information on this subject in the form of an article from the Forum magazine click here. (Forum is the quarterly publication of the 2500 member California Attorneys for Criminal Justice. Ed Kuwatch's "Road Warrior" articles are a regular feature of Forum).
Much of the foregoing assumes you have many choices of who to hire. Obviously your choices are more limited when the court is remote from major urban areas and their suburbs. Of course there are small towns with very good lawyers. One of the best is Gerry Spence, who lives in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. But it's a fact of life that the better lawyers do tend to be in large urban areas.
