Hiring the best Fairfax DUI lawyer for you is the key

Hiring a DUI lawyer is not about who is the most flashy or smooth, but who will obtain the best possible results for you in court. As a Fairfax DUI lawyer, I remember one of my favorite criminal defense trial teachers looking as ordinary as people come, until he opened his mouth, and I have been sold ever since all these years, and he has persuaded many jurors along the way, with part of his magic being that at bottom he likes and identifies with just about everyone, and delights in the possibilities of persuading them rather than cursing when they go astray. Your Virginia DWI attorney is going to be working with you for at least a few weeks if not longer. Choose wisely.

How do I find the best Fairfax DUI lawyer for me?

Hiring the best Fairfax DUI lawyer for you is not about who has the most eye-appealing websites or promotional videos, but about the lawyer who is fully devoted to your cause, who sees your defense and case as unique from all the lawyer’s other cases, and who is completely committed to tackling the obstacles in your case and finding and enhancing the positives of your defense. Read and watch what your potential Virginia DWI defense lawyer has posted about why s/he defends such cases, what s/he does to obtain as much victory as possible with such defense, and what s/he does to continue to be sufficiently educated on the technology, science, police practices and defenses involved with defending against prosecutions under Virginia Code § 18.2-266 for allegedly driving while intoxicated / under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. With the right lawyer for you, this defense starts with knowing how to prepare for and present in court, including with trials. Added to that is knowing the science, police practices and defenses that are specific to DWI defense. Fortunately, I have worked with a forensic toxicology expert in over two hundred DWI cases, with each case enhancing my understanding of the science and how to handle it. I am also blessed with being a member of the National College of DUI Defense, to which only a small percentage of Virginia DUI defenders belong. The powerhouse of collective knowledge in this group is hard to overstate. Additionally, I have been trained by one of the nation’s top trainers to police for administering Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs or FSTs) to police, including my having administered these tests to people who have consumed alcohol. The learning never stops with Virginia DUI defense, just as a boxer who fully trains and gets into shape for each bout enhances his chances to win.

What questions should I ask my potential Fairfax DUI lawyer on the road to hiring my Virginia DWI attorney?

The best Fairfax DUI lawyer for you will welcome your toughest and most probing questions about why s/he is the right lawyer for you. You as a Virginia DWI defendant need transparency and full honesty from your attorney from the get go. In this hiring process, if your potential attorney is defensive, changes the subject, or finesses the answer, that raises the question whether this same lawyer will do the same thing at even the most challenging points of your case, like at trial, when persuading judges and jurors is about going for the jugular and not talking in platitudes. I look at my potential clients’ and clients’ questions as gifts for us to figure out together if we are the right fit for each other. (From my end, I see a good fit with the great majority of my potential Virginia DUI defense clients, because their case is precisely what I love to defend.) Here are but a few questions that you might want to consider asking your potential DWI attorney: Why do you do this defense? How much of a thrill do you get from working with your clients and fighting in court? What do you do when a prosecutor or police officer acts underhanded, or a judge barks at you or seems to deviate from their oath? How accessible will you be to me while we work together? How closely will you work with me? How much will you boil down essential aspects to me in a way that I can understand without overly simplifying matters? Why should I hire you?

What do I do if I am questioning my hiring decision with my Fairfax DUI lawyer?

Doubts sometimes crop up for Fairfax DUI defendants about their choice of lawyer. Those doubts sometimes are legitimately about your attorney’s ability and fit for you, and sometimes are more about factors that are not created by your attorney. If you have chosen the best Fairfax DUI lawyer for you, that lawyer will welcome your raising such concerns as much as s/he welcomed your direct and tough questions at your first meeting with that attorney. If you are disappointed with the progress of plea negotiations in your case, listen not only how your Virginia DWI defense lawyer explains the source of those hurdles, but also about the sparks (or lack thereof) of victory that your lawyer continues to pursue in your case, never lying down simply because of landmines in your case. If you are horrified by the judge you have drawn in your case, listen to your lawyer explain about how the legislature chooses the judges sitting in the courthouse, and the court administration decides which judge handles which courtroom and which cases on the particular date. Your best Fairfax DUI lawyer will not get mental paralysis by your hardhitting questions, nor by how challenging your case may be, but will that feed into his or her ongoing inspiration to find the best possible road to obtaining as much victory as possible in your case.

What do I do on my Virginia DUI trial date?

In hiring the best possible Fairfax DUI lawyer for you, make sure that attorney will fully prepare you and himself/herself for your court date well before that date. This starts with the basics of filing a timely discovery/evidence order, timely filing a request for certificate of blood alcohol content (BAC) certificate of analysis and objection thereto, timely filing any needed proposed order to transfer a sample of your blood to a private lab for testing (in blood testing Virginia DWI cases), and timely filing appropriate motions to suppress evidence and for other relief. This includes thoroughly reviewing the discovery and other evidence in your case as needed. This includes visiting the incidence scene with your  when that may benefit executing your defense. Of course this includes preparing your testimony whether or not you will testify, and informing you step by step about what will happen in court, including where you will wait for your lawyer, what you will do when standing with your lawyer in front of the judge, and how you and your attorney will mutually conduct yourselves during any trial.

Your Fairfax DUI case is about pursuing the best possible defense for you, and not about burnishing your lawyer’s standing in the community

Your Fairfax DUI lawyer is going to be thrown curveballs in many of his or her cases, including possibly in yours. That is not the time for your attorney to be worried that s/he is looking bad in the process, but at all times about how the lawyer will regroup in order to obtain the best possible result for you. This reminds me of a prosecutor who at first tried characterizing his plea offer as take it or leave it, in a rather firm tone of voice for the rest of the people in the vicinity to hear. I could have suggested to the prosecutor to chill out, or could have advised to save the posturing for a green defense lawyer who might get bent out of shape by such a prosecutorial approach. Instead, I looked the prosecutor right in the eye, said that I am sure we can find a resolution that satisfies both parties, and proceeded to obtain a deal that was substantially better than the initial prosecutorial offer, and that I probably only obtained because I accepted that this is my prosecutor for this case for the day, and that I am going to find the best possible way to yes with this opponent, who could tell from the way I was discussing the case that I was fully prepared to proceed to trial and to not let go in pursuing an acquittal.

Fairfax DUI lawyer Jonathan Katz combines his successful experience defending hundreds of DWI defendants with his years of developing his persuasive talents and his constantly updating his knowledge and facility with dealing with the applicable science and procedure, to obtain the best possible results for you in court. Your initial in-person confidential consultation with Jon Katz about your court-pending case is free. By the time you conclude your initial meeting with Jon, you are bound to feel energized and pumped about the possibilities for your defenses in court. Call 703-383-1100 to schedule your initial consultation with Jon.