You have no legal obligation to do so, but I can easily list five very good reasons to hire an attorney for a DUI case.Driving Under the Influence is a Criminal OffenseYou should hire an attorney for a DUI case because doing so gives you your best chance of not spending time in jail, not having your driver’s license suspended, and/or not paying several thousand dollars in fines and fees. Also, in most states, a DUI conviction will remain on your record for life. This can make it difficult to find work, secure student loans, and obtain or maintain professional licensure.Another consideration is that once you get charged with allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, you will be required to appear in court before a judge. You will be arraigned within hours or days of being brought into custody, and you may or may not proceed to sentencing at that time. If you plead not guilty at your arraignment (which you should in order to get a chance to mount a defense or explore a plea deal), you will need to go to court for at least one pretrial, possibly a hearing for decisions on motions filed in relation to your case, as well as a trial if no resolution is reached.I say this not only because I work as a defense attorney: You should never face a judge without legal representation. What you say and do in a courtroom determines the course of the rest of your life. Your attorney will advise you on how to speak and act in ways that increase your odds of leaving as a free person.Police and Prosecutors Fight Hard for Convictions and PenaltiesOnce state legislatures and courts stopped treating drunk and drugged driving as more than just traffic violations during the 1980s, the consequences for DUI arrests and convictions have only grown more severe. City, county, and state attorneys build careers on jailing DUI offenders. Try to find an elected sheriff or judge who does not make “getting tough on drunk drivers” a campaign pledge.Where I practice as a DUI defense attorney Columbus Ohio, a first-time offense now typically results in a one-year license suspension that makes holding a CDL impossible and requires completion of an expensive seventy-two-hour driver education course. Some judges prefer sentencing drunk or drugged drivers to jail or monitored house arrest instead of referring them to the driver’s course. The jail term can last for six months on a first offense.Drivers Can Lose Their License Just for a DUI Arrest Without a ConvictionOhio and other states have enacted laws that authorize police officers and state troopers to make what are called administrative license suspensions (ALS). In Ohio, an ALS can be enforced against a driver who fails or refuses blood, breath, and urine tests for alcohol and drug use. Once imposed, an ALS typically remains in effect for three months to a year. Worse, it remains in effect until a judge lifts it even if the DUI case is dismissed before the statutory ALS period expires.

Man driving car during daytime; image by Art Markiv, via Unsplash.com.

An experienced Columbus DUI defense lawyer will know how to quickly and successfully appeal an ALS. Making use of this service will be especially important for a commercial truck or delivery driver because getting your CDL suspended usually means getting fired.Effective Defenses Against DUI Convictions ExistWhen you hire an attorney for your DUI case, you gain access to a deep well of knowledge, experience and resources that can help you win an acquittal, secure a dismissal, or negotiate a beneficial plea deal. Your defense lawyer will know how to cast reasonable doubt on the conduct and results of field sobriety tests, how to arrange for independent analyses of blood and urine samples, and how to review the collection and handling of all the evidence that the prosecutor intends to use.Just ask yourself this one question if you still doubt the wisdom of hiring a DUI attorney: If you decide to represent yourself at trial, will you know how to request the blood samples that were drawn when you were taken into custody? If you don’t, how will you even have anything for an independent lab to reanalyze?DUI cases are complicated. You can make this complexity work for you, but doing that will be much easier when you partner with a Columbus DUI lawyer whose only job is to achieve the best outcome for you.The First Plea Deal Offered by the Prosecutor is Probably Not the Best You Can ExpectExpanding on that last point, “winning” a DUI case is not always possible. In fact, never trust a lawyer who guarantees you will be acquitted or have your case dismissed. The best any lawyer can promise is to work hard on your behalf.Often, the best you can expect is an opportunity to plead guilty to an offense that allows you to keep your driver’s license, stay out jail, and keep the “DUI” off your publicly searchable police record. But what is that offense? In Ohio, prosecutors frequently offer “physical control” as an alternative to “operating a vehicle while intoxicated (OVI).” “Reckless operation” is another potential reduced charge.