Do I need a lawyer/attorney if in municipal court?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Do I need a lawyer/attorney if in municipal court?
Stopped at bar I had visited 5 or 6 years prior wondering if it were same, it appeared to be, ordered rum/coke, texted a friend to join me, no immediate response, finished drink and texted again and ordered second with shot tequila for old time, still waiting with intention of leaving after. I drank half the shot, put glass down, looked at the TV that was mounted on wall and can’t remember nothing more than hitting curb, wanting to get home to bed and being arrested a ways out of my way home and not being able to account for 5 hours. What do I do? It’s never happened before.
Asked on April 29, 2018 under Criminal Law, Wisconsin
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
Yes, you should retain an attorney. DUI can result in your state in 6 months or more of license suspension for a first offense, possible mandatory use of a breath interlock device to drive, and around $1,000 in fines and costs--plus setting you up for much more severe penalties if it ever happens again. To avoid having a 1st DUI against you and the license suspension, it pays to have a lawyer. A lawyer cannot guaranty success, of course (no lawyer ever can; don't trust any attorney who claims that a suffessful outcome is guaranteed), but since the best ways to defend against DUI are technical or procedural--e.g. attacking the grounds for stopping you, attacking how the test (breath, blood, etc.) was done, the sample kept, or results analyzed, excluding any confession you may have made, etc.--a lawyer is far more likely to be successful in defending you than you would be as your own attorney.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.