Hire The Right Attorney

If you have been charged with a DUI/OVI or a criminal offense, you are probably in the process of deciding if you should hire an attorney and what lawyer to hire. Here are some suggestions:

SHOULD I HIRE AN ATTORNEY?

If you needed surgery, would you perform the surgery yourself? The consequences of a conviction can be very serious; jail sentences, license suspensions, immobilized vehicles, yellow license plates, and more. Effective criminal defense lawyers know how to investigate the relevant facts, research the applicable law, and effectively present your defense to the prosecutor, judge and jury. Good lawyers recognize issues that will help your case and know how to develop those issues into a good defense. Unless you have an education in the law, training in DUI and criminal defense issues, and experience in the courtroom, you should not represent yourself.

WHAT ATTORNEY SHOULD I HIRE?

1. Hire a lawyer that focuses on this area of law. There are hundreds of attorneys in central Ohio that will represent you for a DUI or criminal case. Most of them, however, also practice other areas of law. If you were having foot surgery, would you hire a family doctor or a foot surgeon? If you care about your foot, you would hire a foot surgeon. If you care about the outcome of your criminal or DUI case, hire a lawyer that handles only DUI and criminal cases.
2. Hire a lawyer that is knowledgeable. Many attorneys may have knowledge of the basics of criminal and DUI cases, but not many have a deeper understanding of the issues. DUI cases and certain criminal cases can be much more complex than one might imagine. To be an effective lawyer in these areas, one must not only know the law (statutes, regulations and case law) but must also understand other issues such as police procedures, forensics, field sobriety tests, breath tests, blood tests, urine tests, etc
3. Hire a lawyer with experience. It's important to have knowledge, but it is also important to have experience. You should hire an attorney with both. You do not want your case to be the first one in which your attorney argues a motion to suppress evidence or presents a case to a jury.
4. Hire a lawyer that you like. While this may not be the top criterion for hiring a lawyer, it's one that is easily overlooked: it would be nice for you to work with someone likeable yet confident. More importantly, if the attorney does not seem likeable yet confident, how is he or she going to interact with the prosecuting attorney, the judge, and the jury when presenting your case?
5. Hire a lawyer that charges appropriate fees. You can find inexpensive representation, but an attorney that charges low fees either does not understand the complexity of DUI and certain criminal cases or does not plan to do the work necessary to present a good defense
6. Hire a lawyer that does not make guarantees. It is impossible for an attorney to tell you from your first conversation what will be the outcome of your case. To properly evaluate a case, an attorney must review all of the evidence, relevant law, and other factors. This evaluation requires investigation and research and cannot be done by simply talking with a client in an initial consultation

Contact the law office of Shawn R. Dominy, Attorney at Law, to schedule a free initial consultation directly with me.

Shawn R. Dominy