Finding a Good DUI Lawyer
It can be very exhausting finding and retaining a good DUI attorney in San Francisco. There are many lawyers who are unethical, inexperienced, and/or unskilled. By asking the following key points, the search for a good lawyer may be a little less challenging:
- The highest rating possible for competence and ethics is A-V for the Martindale-Hubbell International Directory of Attorneys. What evaluation did this lawyer receive?
- Does the lawyer have an education from a good law school? Is he/she Board-certified and a member of the National College for DUI Defense?
- Does the lawyer have the knowledge, ability, and access to use blood/breath analysis and technical expert witnesses in police procedures? Will he/she have blood samples reanalyzed by a lab?
- Is there any record of accusations made against the attorney with the State Bar?
- Predicting results of a DUI case is impossible. Does this attorney make vows of a particular outcome to the case? No respectable attorney could or would do this.
- Has there been a written contract prepared in detail to list all charges? Is the fee all-inclusive or is it only a preliminary retainer fee? Are “extras” such as expert testimony, blood reanalysis, trial, DMV license hearing, or subpoena costs included in the contract?
- DUI specialization by the “American Bar Association Journal” explains the growing challenges and specialization in DUI defense, which is a very specific and increasingly complex area. Does the lawyer cover DUI cases exclusively? If not, how much of his/her cases are DUI related? A lawyer handling DUI cases as well as other criminal cases would be much like a family doctor practicing cancer research, brain surgery, and AIDs research all at once.
There appear to be only two law firms in California which specialize in DUI defense exclusively, are "AV" rated, and are headed by former Deans of the National College for DUI Defense. One of these firms is apparently unique in having a technical support staff of former law enforcement officers, breathalyzer experts and DMV hearing officers, and maintains offices in San Francisco and San Rafael:
Offices of Lawrence Taylor : San Francisco Bay Area DUI Attorneys AV-rated law firm with its attorneys averaging 14 years of experience. Accepts DUI defense cases only. A former Deputy District Attorney, Fulbright Professor of Law, and Dean of the National College for DUI defense, Taylor is a Board-certified DUI attorney with 37 years experience. He is the author of the leading DUI defense books "Drunk Driving Defense, 6th edition" and "California Drunk Driving Defense, 3rd edition". The firm has a support staff of former law enforcement officers, is listed in the "Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers" and has offices in San Francisco and San Rafael.
San Francisco DUI Lawyers. For listings of other DUI attorneys who represent clients in DUI cases in San Francisco, Oakland and the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as in California and other states, the following resources can be helpful:
California DUI: Drunk Driving Law Guide
Our main website, including recommendations of DUI defense lawyers statewide.
National College for DUI Defense Attorneys
National association of lawyers specializing in defending clients accused of drunk driving.
San Francisco DUI Lawyers
List of resources concerning DUI arrests in San Francisco, including DUI lawyers.