I've been negotiating DUIs now for quite some time, and it is an interesting art form. It takes a combination of knowing your client and their situation, as well as the location where you are negotiating – who is the judge, and who is the prosecutor? How do they typically handle these cases?

What will move them and make them give a lesser charge or dismiss a case? This comes through experience and having a good sense of how a particular court system works, as well as a good understanding of who you're dealing with. The prosecutors are people just like anybody else. Some are tough, some are middle-of-the-road, and some are very easy to work with. Understanding their perspective is crucial in effective negotiation.

I've gone into court, looked at a prosecutor, and said, you know what, there's no way I will get the resolution that I want out of this prosecutor. I'll just continue the case and come back to fight another day. There's nothing wrong with doing that.

The bottom line is, the job is to get the best possible resolution – whether that's a dismissal, a win in a jury trial, or some negotiated plea bargain – but as an attorney who has been practicing DUI for a long time, you have to know how to deal with these prosecutors.

Sometimes, you may need to negotiate with the judge if the prosecutor is not being reasonable. It depends on the circumstances of the case, what your client has supposedly done, and several other factors that you gain through working hard, getting the experience, and having a knack for doing DUI cases and negotiating them. That's the bottom line.

Strict Negotiation Approach In A DUI Case

One approach that I've seen used and I've certainly used myself is to go in and say the client is innocent. We're going to trial. We need this, this, and this. You've got a video. You've got a body cam. You've got MVARs – we need them. Just make the prosecutors think that no matter what happens, you're going to trial.

Sometimes that tactic is excellent. Sometimes, you decide to go to trial, but at other times, you can opt to say, 'Listen, we think we have an extreme case.' 'Here's what we have, but anyone could win or lose at trial, so we'll consider resolving the issue.' However, we won't consider fixing it unless you provide us with this.

That brings me to another point. When you go in there to negotiate as a defense attorney, where clients need to be aware, you need to have a game plan. You need to understand what your client will accept and what they will not accept, and that requires effective communication between the attorney and client regarding the DUI case, specifically, the negotiation process.

The lawyer must inform the client. Listen, here's what I need from you. If the person used prescription medication, for example, and ended up with a DUI, you need to get the bottle. It would help if you showed me what it says on the bottle about driving and taking that prescription medication. We need something from the doctor.

Go in there. Be honest with the doctor. Tell him what happened. Perhaps the doctor can provide a letter explaining what's going on and that it's not your fault. You would have had no way to know not to drive with the prescription medication.

Maybe it's a new medication. Perhaps the warning label on the bottle doesn't say anything about driving. Perhaps the doctor didn't tell you anything. I mean, I could go on and on and on. That's just one small example.

Character Letters

Getting character letters to show that you're a good person and have a good job, etc., there's nothing wrong with that. I don't know how effective that is, though, because many people who get DUIs have that. Most people who get a DUI are not criminals.

They just drank and drove and fell right into a police trap or got into an accident, or whatever happened to them. So, just because you can get character letters doesn't necessarily solve your problem. You will need to develop a strategy with your attorney that relates to your specific case.

What happened? Was your blood alcohol level not that high? Was it close to the legal limit? Bam! You're in business.

Challenging Results of Chemical Tests

Now we can attack the breath machine or the way they did the blood, or whatever other issues surround having a low blood alcohol level, because that's usually the best-case scenario. That's when you can get cases dismissed. That's when you can get lower charges.

So, there are all sorts of different negotiating angles, but I think one of the biggest things is that the lawyer and the client work together. The client listens to the lawyer and gets what the lawyer tells him to get.

Also, the client and the lawyer come to a meeting of the minds as to exactly what the client will take and what they won't take. This collaborative approach ensures that the client is actively involved in the negotiation process and takes responsibility for their decisions.

There are various ways to handle cases, and each case requires a unique strategy. I could go on and on, but I think the bottom line is that we should schedule a consultation for you. We look at your point. We assess what happened, and then we develop our strategy. Based on twenty-five years of experience, handling thousands of DUI cases in and out of the LA court system, I have seen nearly every case imaginable. There isn't a scenario that I haven't seen, and I know the strategy for getting the job done when it comes to negotiating cases in Los Angeles.