Your Massachusetts DWI Lawyer wants you to be well informed. These 5 myths about Drunk Driving, by William C. Head, should give you food for thought when selecting you own OUI attorney.

Note: These article is for informational purposes only. Please consult your Stephen Jones for legal advice if you are facing issues with the OUI (also known as DUI) law in Massachusetts.

This article was reprinted with permission of TRIAL (March 1993)
Copyright the Association of Trial Lawyers of America

Myth Number 3: Any attorney can defend an accused drunk driver.

If a friend or relative asked me for help on a matter involving antitrust litigation, my response would be to consult an expert in the field. I would probably inquire with the state bar association or phone colleagues to try to locate an expert in antitrust law. I would try to send the client to the most skilled lawyer I could find who specializes in this area of practice.

When a prospective client walks into the average law office and asks for help on a drunk-driving case, some attorneys will agree to represent that person even if they have never handled criminal matters. The attorney may advise the person to plead guilty or nolo contendere (depending on state law) and work out an arrangement with the court to keep his or her license with the least possible suspension time. The attorney may not adequately investigate the facts of the case or get copies of documents and other evidence that are readily available through discovery.

These naive attorneys don't realize how much exposure to liability they have if they counsel clients to give up their constitutional and statutory rights and plead guilty to this serious offense. Yet these same attorneys would probably not hesitate to refer these same clients to specialists if they were charged with securities fraud.

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