Taimoor Rana is seasoned criminal defense attorney specializing in DUI related cases. He shares his expert legal opinion here « Court Appointed DWI Lawyer VS Private DWI Lawyer
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- A charge of DWI is very serious and it’s always advised to seek a professional DWI lawyer to help you out. There are many people who cannot afford to hire a private lawyer. Options are available for those without the means to hire a lawyer themselves when it comes to defending DWI charges.
If you will be convicted for DWI then it will be having far reaching consequences and these can last for many years. For these reasons representing yourself, although an option you are free to take, is not advised as few have succeeded when taking this route. But best thing is that you hire a lawyer by any means so that you can have lesser penalty, particularly if you have previous convictions for DWI offenses.
You will have to prove that you cannot afford any lawyer then you will get the right to have a court-appointed lawyer. For that you can request before the trial hearing and judge will appoint someone there (if available). Some states require you to submit detail financial statements to prove that you cannot afford a private lawyer. As a matter of fact private lawyers are having only marginally higher success rate than court appointed lawyers.
The court-appointed lawyer is paid by the state and judge is legally grateful to make this known to the court at the start of the trial. Court will be informed at every stage of the proceedings as to the cost of the legal counsel being paid for by the state. One thing you must that you cannot change a court-appointed lawyer further down if you do not get on with them or you feel they are not properly defending you. Only in one case you can change them if you prove misconduct or malpractice on their part and even then the judge may not agree to a change. If you and your lawyer can’t get on, then you agree with the lawyer for them to petition the court to be relieved and someone else appointed. By the way you can hire a private lawyer anytime if you find that you are having enough financial capacity.
It’s best to have a meeting with private DWI lawyer or different lawyers for discussing your case. Obviously first consultation will be free of charge and there are chances also to negotiate a fee rate with which suits you both. You can do this if court won’t qualify for a court-appointed lawyer if court feels that you do have the financial means to hire someone privately.
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