Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) or Driving Under the Influence (DUI) is considered a criminal offense in Nevada and all the other states in United States of America, meaning all DUI and DWI cases are all done in a criminal court. If a person’s alcohol content exceeds a certain limit and is caught driving, he/she can be charged with several serious acts.
Though you have a right to represent yourself in a DUI trial, it is never a good idea. A lack of knowledge in trial skills can be a big blow during the court trials and usually, the judges have little patience for defendants who represent themselves and do not know the rules of the court. Most defendants therefore choose to be represented by either a private DUI lawyer or a public DUI lawyer to represent them in courts.
One of the roles that a DUI lawyer should handle is assessing cases. He/She is mandated to assess cases thoroughly from different perspectives as well as considering all the other possible angles of the case. Even though the defendant maybe wrong or the evidence is against him or her, the attorney must handle the case wisely through providing considerable measures to handle the problem.
Apart from assessing cases, a DUI lawyer collects information about the case. Evaluating a case with the much needed information is adversely advocated for and a good practice. The information or evidence collected should also be protected to prevent it from falling into wrong hands and manipulated.
He/She should have good analysis skills and must be capable of judging the situation as well. The responsibility of a DUI lawyer is to identify the loopholes in the case against the client. This helps in finding fast and smart strategies to defend the client and get either their charges dropped or lower punishments.
DUI lawyers are expected to be knowledgeable about the laws and appeals that should be used to protect the defendant. He/she should also have information on previous cases, the judgments made, appeals etc. The lawyer should have an in-depth knowledge on individual rights and must emphasize on them during the prosecution.
Since DUI lawyers may have fluctuating working hours, they must be willing and prepared to devote themselves to work and assigned duties. The attorney should be capable of handling stressful circumstances at all times as the job comes with its complications.
With each and every development in a client’s case, the lawyer should keep his/her clients up to date. Keeping a client up to date with every progress of the case earns the client’s trust, e.g when the DUI lawyer is asked to appear at court promptly with matters concerning the defendant’s case.
The roles and responsibilities stated above can be a challenge for a non lawyer defendant to handle and therefore being represented by a DUI attorney that posses the above capabilities can be far much promising.