Although it’s normal to be anxious when you’re facing a Michigan DUI charge, don’t panic. With proper legal help, though, your Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) case can be successfully managed – and nobody can do that better than our firm.
If you do have a pending drunk driving case, you want to get out of it as completely, painlessly and quickly as possible.
The good news is that my team and I can that for you. We aggressively defend drunk driving cases. The best outcome possible doesn’t require any kind of luck or miracles. Instead, what’s needed is the combination of experience, good work, and skill that we can bring to your case.
• My team and I aggressively represent our clients against drunk driving charges.
• We will protect you and your interests.
• We’ll get you through your DUI, rather than let it define you.
To be sure, the potential penalties increase depending on whether you’re facing a 1st offense, 2nd offense, or 3rd offense DUI charge. Every step up the ladder is significant, but not fatal. No matter what your situation, we will either get you out of the case completely, or get you through it with the fewest legal penalties.
WHAT’S LIKELY TO HAPPEN?
Here is a summary of how DUI cases usually play out here, in the Greater-Detroit area, meaning in the courts of Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, and the surrounding counties:
• In a 1st offense DUI, a person is very unlikely to go to jail.
There is no point paying some lawyer to “avoid” a jail sentence that’s almost certain to not be imposed in the first place. We won’t let you stress out about that. Instead, my team and I will make sure we avoid as many of the other likely consequences as possible.
Our DUI attorneys will always do what’s necessary to protect your ability to drive. We will make sure you can get the conviction expunged and off your record at the first legal opportunity. None of this will happen by accident, however; it must part of how a case is handled from the very outset.
• In a 2nd offense DUI, a person is looking at a POSSIBILITY of a few days incarceration, depending on the Judge.
Some Judges generally don’t impose any jail in 2nd offense DUI cases. Others think most 2nd offenders should get a few days. Many (probably most) Judges fall in the middle, and decide what to do on a case-by-case basis, more than anything else.
My team and I will explore every option, including things like sobriety court. We’ll do everything legally possible to avoid jail and minimize other potential consequences, like the loss of your driver’s license.
• In a 3rd offense (felony) DUI case, the law requires that a person to serve at least 30 days in jail – with 1 exception.
If a person convicted of a 3rd offense is admitted into a specialty or treatment court (like a sobriety court program), where the Judge does have the authority to waive all or part of that required sentence.
The courts really have 2 competing goals in 3rd offense cases:
1. To disincentivize (punish) a person so he or she won’t drive drunk again.
2. To provide the necessary help and support to help make that a reality.
Someone with only 2 prior DUI’s who doesn’t get into any kind of treatment court is likely to get a minimal sentence. Typically, these sentences can be measured in days. We’ll make sure any sentence is kept to an absolute minimum.
MAKING THINGS BETTER FOR YOU
Every case is unique. As Michigan DUI lawyers, my team and I know how to handle things so that we can make them better. In real terms, this means –
1. Not going to jail
2. Protecting your driver’s license and the ability to drive
3. Having to report a DUI conviction to a professional licensing body
4. Getting hammered with long and demanding probation, counseling, testing, and/or treatment
The proper management of a DUI case begins with an intelligent defense plan based on the evidence and facts of the case.
Remember: Success in a DUI case is best measured by what does NOT happen to you.
That’s the gold standard, and the motto that our firm lives by. We’ll do whatever it takes to make sure our DUI clients avoid as many of the legal penalties and negative consequences as possible, including jail.
It goes without saying that everyone would rather have a term of probation instead of being incarcerated. After all, who wouldn’t want a chance to demonstrate the NOT locking them up was the right choice?
While jail is often often easy for us to avoid, probation is pretty much a “given” in most DUI cases. A term of probation can either be difficult, or it can be easy. We always want easy. My team and I will secure the shortest and least demanding term of probation possible for you. Nobody can do that better than us.
If you have a professional license through the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) and have to report a DUI, we will work the case to keep it the most minimal thing possible.
We are highly experienced Michigan DUI lawyers who know how to properly manage a DUI case so that it is NOT the end of your world.
LEARN MORE
In the sections that follow, we’ll examine different DUI charges and how things work in the real world.
For an even more in-depth analysis of every aspect of Michigan DUI process, visit the DUI section of our Blog. It is fully searchable and updated with 2 new, original articles every week. There, you will find more useful information about the Michigan DUI process than can be found anywhere else.
Our consultations are free and our cases are handled on a “flat-fee” basis with upfront fees!