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Home Blog Drunk Driving The Right Michigan DUI Lawyers can make Things Better

As Michigan DUI lawyers who handle drunk driving cases in the courts of Wayne, Oakland,  Macomb. and the surrounding counties, we know that everyone’s first concern following a DUI arrest is to stay out of jail

Of course, it’s also critically important to avoid and/or minimize as many of the legal penalties and negative consequences as possible, like like long, difficult probation and losing your driver’s license – and that’s exactly what our firm does; we’ll protect you, and your interests. We will skillfully use our experience to your advantage. 

We are NOT just another bunch of DUI lawyers among the herd. 

With a solid recovery background, and a thorough understanding of the things like alcohol and drug testing, our firm brings an entirely additional dimension of useful clinical, legal and scientific knowledge to your case. 

Years ago, I completed a formal, post-graduate program of addiction studies. My team and I use our incomparable understanding of the development, diagnosis and treatment of and recovery from substance abuse problems in real-world ways to actually help our clients and make things better in their DUI cases.

Specifically, that means we will make sure you are not perceived by the court as having a drinking problem when you don’t. 

However, if you know (or even suspect) that your relationship to alcohol has grown troublesome, we can offer help unlike any other lawyer or law firm. 

Whether your drinking is a problem or not, we know exactly what to do to produce the very best outcome possible in your case.

Many of the hundreds of DUI articles on our blog examine the steps involved in a drunk driving case, including the ultra-important and mandatory written alcohol assessment test

Under Michigan law, before the Judge can decide what kind of sentence to impose in a DUI case, you must be screened to see if you have, or are at at risk to develop a drinking problem.  

The court system is well known to have a built-in “alcohol bias” and to often over-diagnose the existence of a drinking problem, or the potential for one to develop. In other words, anyone going through the DUI court process is at a much higher risk to be seen as having a problem – even if they don’t.  

For those whose drinking has become a problem, the big risk is that it will be perceived as being more serious than it actually is.

In Michigan, the mandatory alcohol screening is done by the court’s probation department. In addition to undergoing an interview with a probation officer who will gather background information about you, and the circumstances surrounding your arrest, you will also have to complete a written alcohol screening “test.” 

Each answer on these tests has a certain “point value,” and your final total number of points is compared to a scoring key that is used to to determine whether you have an identifiable drinking problem, or otherwise test out as being “at risk” for one to develop. Generally speaking, the more points, the worse things are for you.

In other words, fewer points are always better.

One of the key areas of questions on these test is whether or not the person has ever been arrested for an alcohol-related traffic offense. What many people don’t understand is that, right out of the gate, anyone being screened as the result of DUI already starts with some points, and, therefore, also starts out with a handicap.

Based upon your score on that assessment test and the other information he or she gathers about you and your DUI incident, the probation officer must submit a written sentencing recommendation to the Judge that advises him or her what kind of classes, counseling, supervision and penalties should be imposed upon you.

In the real world, this recommendation essentially serves as a blueprint for what’s going to happen to you. 

A good (meaning more lenient) recommendation will result in a better sentence, while a tougher recommendation will have the opposite effect. 

This is where my team and I can help you more than anyone.

It really all comes down to this: You hire a Michigan DUI lawyer to keep you out of jail and avoid or minimize as many negative consequences and penalties as possible in your case. 

That’s exactly what we do every single day. 

We take our cases personally. This is important, because you not only want someone who knows what they’re doing, but really cares, as well. 

Our firm ie exceptionally good at what we do. We enjoy making things better for our clients. With our extensive experience successfully handling Michigan DUI cases, we know what to do, and exactly how to do it.

Your lawyer has to speak for you, and he or she must do that charismatically, and with authority. Who wants some lawyer whose voice is just another in the chorus? 

If you really want things made better, then you have to hire the right lawyer. That sounds great, but what does it really mean?

The “right lawyer” is someone who is strong, honest, and experienced:

Strength isn’t about being brash or bold or loud or stubborn. It means not “selling out” and letting you get stuck with a charge that could be beaten or reduced. Strength can show itself as a measured silence, or it can be a powerful response; it can favor an intelligent compromise, or it can support holding fast to your side of the argument and fighting.

Honesty is the most important for a trait for a lawyer. My team and I will never just tell you what you want to hear. Instead, we will always be candid and never sugar-coat the truth. Being honest means doing right thing, as opposed to just doing the easy thing

Experience means that we’ve not only handled thousands of Michigan DUI cases, but we’ve done it successfully, in the same group of local courts, in front of the same Judges and prosecutors, over and over again. If you hire us, you won’ be paying our tuition to learn our way around some distant Michigan court; you’ll pay for our experience in one we know well.

My team and I put our hearts and souls into protecting our clients and their interests. Every day, we spend our time helping real people, just like you, avoid and minimize the negative consequences (like losing the ability to drive, or getting stuck with demanding probation, unnecessary counseling, treatment, and testing) in DUI cases. 

Remember, success in a DUI case is best measured by what does not happen to you.

We stand by each and every client and help them safely navigate through the court system so they can come out of it with their lives intact.

No lawyer can do more, and we will never do less.