The costs and benefits of hiring a lawyer for your DUI case

DUI laws (or Driving Under the Influence laws) are getting more and more fierce in recent years. Arizona recently passed a “super law” where a minor first time infraction is heavily penalized with mandatory jail time. Virginia is considering the same law. Other states are also steadily toughening up their DUI laws bit by bit.
If you ever arrested for DUI, you need a lawyer who is specialized in the DUI laws of that state. Unless you are a lawyer, you can never realize the details involved in fairly presenting your case. Trying to represent yourself in a VUI case is like trying to repair your plumbing if you don’t know what a wrench is.

What Will This Cost Me?
All DUI lawyers will charge different fees, but even then, those fees will be a lot less expensive for you in the long run than losing your license, paying crippling fines, or spending time in jail. The record of your jail time will follow you whenever you try to apply for a job or for welfare benefits to your auto insurance premiums.
The usual DUI lawyer’s fee, on average, starts at $1000. CNBC estimates that the average cost of a DUI charge is $20,000 even if you were later found to be innocent. You still have to pay for bail, any time lost from work, court costs and mandatory non-refundable fines.
Which would you rather pay?

Success Rates
Your chances of recovering from a DUI charge improve considerably with a lawyer on your side. If you are a first-time offender, then your chances of success can go up as much as 90% (according to some DUI lawyers). Finding out a potential lawyer’s success rate is a matter of public record, and some DUI lawyers certainly do have a 90% success rate. In this case, success means having your charge reduced, dismissed or acquitted.

Don’t fall for the myth that ANY lawyer can represent you in a DUI case. Law has become so specialized that you need a DUI lawyer specifically to get you through this. If you have a lawyer who is not a DUI lawyer, he or she is the first person you should ask for a recommendation. Chances are that your lawyer has already used this DUI lawyer’s services.