Florida Drunk Driving Lawyer: Working by the Numbers

A Florida drunk driving lawyer is a very busy person indeed. There were a reported 34,638 DUI convictions in the state of Florida in 2006. Of those, slightly more than 4,000 were in the Hillsborough County (Tampa) area and nearly 3,000 were in the Pinellas County (St. Petersburg) area. (Source: The Florida Department of Motor Vehicles).

No matter how you cut it, the thought of being convicted of drunk driving is a scary one for most people, especially when you factor in the costs and what it could mean for the rest of your natural life. Even with the best Florida drunk driving lawyer, you will have the shadow of this moment on your record for up to 75 years. This conviction could affect the type of job that you get later in life because some employers will not consider those with DUI on their record.

When you hire a Florida drunk driving lawyer, you will want to ask several things including how many of his or her cases go to trial, how many of those were wins and what the average amount of time spent in jail for his or her clients might be. You also want to make sure that you understand the pros and cons of plea agreements and what could be offered to you. There is a chance that there will no plea agreement offered or accepted and even if there is one, the judge hearing your case is not obligated to accept it at all. As skilled and experienced lawyer can help you with your defense so that the judge will be more willing to accept the agreement.

Finally, make sure that you let your Florida drunk driving lawyer know how jail or other punishments could impact your family, which might be used to help get a more beneficial plea agreement in some cases. Again, the prosecutor might be unwilling to accept or offer a plea for one reason or another or the judge could throw it out despite the fact that both parties have agreed to terms.