I am a trial attorney and an experienced one at that. That is what I like to do, and that is what I am trained to do. I am very realistic about the evidence in my clients’ cases. I am not going to take a case to trial unless I think I can win it. If you need DUI defense lawyer Don MacNeil, contact our offices today. We will do everything we can to protect you and make sure you can move forward. Call 708-218-0947 today.
The bottom line is, if I think I can obtain a not guilty verdict, then I am going to recommend that we go to trial. I have tried every kind of DUI case from a first offender to multiple offenders. I have successfully defended individuals charged in aggravated DUI cases, cases involving personal injury and cases involving death. My experience is second-to-none, and I have spent a great deal of time studying and training how to best prepare every DUI case.
What is the difference between a trial and a plea?
There is a huge difference when attorneys go to trial as opposed to pleading out. Unfortunately, the percentages of lawyers that do not take cases to trial are high. I am not sure how those lawyers do it that way, because every case is different. When somebody comes into the office looking for DUI defense lawyer Don MacNeil, we start with a clean slate. I am starting from scratch in terms of evaluating and investigating the client’s case.
When the state’s attorney turns over the evidence to me, I take my time carefully reviewing the case and constantly making notes, and evaluating the case as if I were going to trial. In my opinion, the only way that you can properly evaluate a case is to look at it as if you were getting ready for trial. That is how you will look at every fact and every issue in a case. Once I have identified all of the facts, then I can really look at my defense case as a whole, and I can recommend to my client whether we should take the case to trial or not.
Additional Information Regarding DUI defense lawyer Don MacNeil
Certainly, it is not inexpensive to pay a lawyer to take your case to trial. However, a DUI case, whether it is your first offense, you are a repeat offender, or you have other aggravating circumstances, it is a potentially life-changing event. If I am recommending that someone go to trial, because I think that we can beat the case, and my client is resistant because they do not want to pay the additional fees, I really tell them to analyze the situation and think about the possible outcomes and long term effects.
Let us just say I have an individual who is thirty years old, and they are going to live to maybe eighty years of age. If they end up pleading guilty, because they do not want to spend the money, that is fifty years that a DUI conviction potentially could hamper them in a number of ways, versus however much money it is to go to trial and potentially be found not guilty. You can amortize those legal fees over the next fifty years and you are probably talking about pennies a day for the next fifty years or less than that.
The trial fees are insignificant when you look at it like that, but that is also a good way to evaluate it. Also, look at the tremendous value you would be getting if you were found not guilty. What is it worth for your freedom, your driver’s license, and your clean record? For more information contact us today for a free consultation.
