DWI lawyer concept of miniature car with alcohol bottle, handcuffs and legal scales.
Are you one of the 1.5 million Americans who was arrested for DWI over the course of the last year?
If so, you’re likely going to face a big financial penalty in the coming months. On average, the cost of a DWI usually surpasses the $10,000 mark. It can also grow to be much higher than that if you’ve had a DWI in the past or if you get the book thrown at you by an angry judge.
It’s why you should strongly consider hiring an Austin DWI lawyer to handle your case. The average cost of a DWI lawyer hovers right around $2,000, but that cost will be well worth it in the end.
Still not convinced that hiring a DWI lawyer is the right thing to do? Here are some reasons why it’s a good investment.
An Austin DWI Lawyer Can Gather Facts About Your Case
If you decide not to hire a lawyer for your DWI case or if you choose to use a public defender, you’re probably not going to be able to get access to all the information you’ll need to fight the charges against you.
A good DWI lawyer will work on your behalf to gather all of the facts surrounding your case in order to make a compelling argument in court.
Your Austin DWI lawyer will be able to get:
- Police records related to your DWI arrest
- Video recordings of your DWI arrest
- Audio recordings of anything you may have said to police after your DWI arrest
- Testing logs for all of the machines used to check your blood alcohol level
- Data stemming from any blood or urine tests you may have taken
You could technically get access to all of this on your own–but it wouldn’t be easy!
In order to gather this kind of information, you need to know who to ask for it. You also need to know what to do once you get it since it can be confusing to go through it all.
Your Austin DWI lawyer will be able to cut to the chase and get you what you need quickly without any effort on your part.
They Can Help You Understand the DWI Laws
DWI laws are incredibly complex. In fact, lawyers who don’t handle DWI cases regularly probably wouldn’t even know where to start when it came to sifting through them.
When you work with DWI lawyers who know what they’re doing, they will be able to explain the laws to you and tell you what effect they could have on you.
This knowledge alone is worth the investment you’ll be making in your lawyer. Without a firm understanding of DWI laws, you stand almost no chance in court facing off against the prosecution in your case.
They Can Get a Prosecutor to Lower Your Charges
The first thing most DWI lawyers will do when they take on a DWI case is to speak with the prosecutor to see if lowering the charges against you is an option.
In many cases, a good Austin DWI lawyer will have a working relationship with a prosecutor and will be able to get your charges lowered for you.
For example, some prosecutors are willing to lower a DWI charge down to a reckless driving charge. You will still have to pay quite a bit of money for it, but it will be better than having a DWI on your record.
They Can Help You Avoid Trial
The vast majority of DWI cases involving DWI lawyers don’t go to court. More often than not, an Austin DWI lawyer will be able to get your charges dropped or reduced before going to court.
This will save you quite a bit of money because you won’t have to pay for your attorney to go to court with you. You also won’t have to go through the stress that comes along with enduring a DWI case.
If at all possible, it’s a good idea to avoid going to trial for DWI. You won’t be able to get out of it without a DWI lawyer. But with one, you have a much better chance of doing it.
They Can Save You a Lot of Money
Hiring a DWI lawyer is not going to be cheap, especially if you get an experienced one. You’re likely going to have to shell out at least a couple thousand dollars.
But you’ll make that money back in no time if the lawyer is able to get your charges dropped or reduced.
If the DWI charges against you get dropped altogether for whatever reason, you’ll end up saving about $3,500 in auto insurance costs. You’ll also avoid having your license suspended and eliminate the chance of serving jail time because of your DWI charge.
If your DWI charge is dropped down to a reckless driving charge, you will still see a bump in your insurance rates. But it’ll be a much smaller bump than the one you would experience with a DWI. You would save somewhere in the neighborhood of $2,000 on average.
The court fees and fines that are associated with a DWI are also much higher than the court fees and fines for a lesser charge like reckless driving. There could be a difference in fees and fines of about $2,000.
With all of that in mind, you would almost be crazy not to pick up the phone and hire an Austin DWI lawyer to handle your case.
You will most likely save yourself a bunch of money by doing it while also getting the peace of mind that comes along with working with a lawyer who knows what they’re doing.
Hire an Austin DWI Lawyer Today
You should always do whatever you can to prevent yourself from getting a DWI in the first place.
But if you ever find yourself in trouble with the law despite your best efforts, you should bring an Austin DWI lawyer onboard to help with your legal battle. You’ll be glad you did.