Georgia Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog
A good Atlanta DUI lawyer stays very busy for two reasons: people who live here year-round can enjoy abundant nightlife and sporting events like the Atlanta Falcons, the Braves, and the Hawks pro basketball team. The second reason this part of Georgia records so many drunk driving arrests is because the city is a major business and tourist destination, with thousands of businesspeople and vacationers landing at Hartsfield Atlanta Airport, or entering the state by car on I-75, I-85, and I-20. There are always lots of vehicles on Atlanta’s roads regardless of time of day or night.
The city has quadrupaled in population over the last 30 years. The number of DUI lawyers Atlanta has also risen in line with people moving here every day. Out-of-towners are especially at risk for getting pulled over by Atlanta Police, Gwinnett County police, and Georgia State Patrol (GSP) officers because they come to Atlanta to celebrate, and because they are unfamiliar with the highways and streets in Buckhead, Sandy Springs, the Perimeter Mall area, East Cobb, Alpharetta, Roswell, and Woodstock.
Atlanta DUI lawyer Larry Kohn has represented thousands of Georgia drivers and out-of-state drivers in local courtrooms for over 25 years. His partner Cory Yager was a Cobb County police officer and Roswell GA police officer before he went back to law school and became a sought-after drunk driving lawyer. Cory is especially skilled at uncovering procedural errors made by arresting officers after they pull over a driver who may be weaving, speeding, running a red light orstop sign, or following too closely.
The best DUI lawyer in Atlanta GA knows to watch your arrest video very closely to pinpoint errors made by the arresting officer, for example, not reading you the implied consent notice, giving incorrect instructions on the field sobriety tests, or waiting too long to make an arrest – and keeping you at the roadside too long (see 3-hour law below).
How Much Do Most Lawyers Charge for a DUI?
DUI lawyer cost is a big concern for almost every driver who calls our criminal defense law firm. People ask their friends and family, “Is it worth hiring an attorney fr a DoUI?” Larry Kohn and Cory Yager totally understand people’s hesitation. Over 90% f all impaired driving arrests happen to people who have never been arrested for anything in their lives, so othis is the first time they have had to decide on hiring an attorney. It is common lore that all lawyers are expensive. It is also well-known that doctors charge a lot for their services, and hospital stays are way beyond just about everyone’s ability to pay privately. The difference is people can purchase health insurance to make healthcare affordable.
But really there is no such thing as lawyer insurance. You will see some companies offer insurance for legal services but these usually do not cover criminal matters. However, a good Atlanta DUI lawyer does provide a type of insurance. This is an insurance against higher car insurance premiums, against spending more time in jail, against steep court fines, and even insurance against job loss or divorce as a result of being arrested for DUI. The only way to avoid all of these problems is to not be convicted of a first DUI, or a second or third DUI. Or you could get a DUI reduced to reckless driving which will lessen some of the conviction penalties.
Before you think “DUI lawyer waste of money” call Larry or Cory at (404) 567-5515 and come down to the office and meet with us for a free initial consultation. At the end if you decide to hire us we can possibly work out a payment plan to ease the financial burden.
Why Do Lawyers Drag Out DUI Cases?
If you have ever gone through a DUI case you know that it can take many months, or even a year to finally get a verdict, or get a plea deal that the prosecutor offers you. This is tru eveen for a misdemeanor charge. Felony DUIs can take much longer, especially if they go to trial. A Georgia DUI lawyer stays busy 6 days a week, and performs a lot of critical legal tasks that clients do not see. These include obtaining the police evidence collected on the night of your arrest (this is called the discovery phase), reviewing your arrest video or any other footage that captured what happened on the side of the road, filing motions with the court clerk for continuances, and creating the best defense strategy for your unique circumstance.
Every Georgia DUI lawyer thoroughly gathers evidence, secures witness testimony, and works to get a possible reduction in penalties that can include additional days of jail time, license suspension, and ignition interlock installation. When you begin working with a qualified attorney you may start feeling like your lawyer is not calling you back fast enough, or won’t tell you when your next court date is. To provide more reassurance to all clients, a lawyer will have a hardworking paralegal person who is usually more available than the attorney. A paralegal’s duties include preparing all motions for the court clerk, gathering all required paperwork from the client (citation paperwork, vehicle impound yard receipts, ignition interlock documents, and a copy of your driver’s license, and keeping track of all upcoming court dates. This is very important because court dates frequently get pushed back for many reasons.
The paralegals at Kohn & Yager have been with our law firm for years, and they are very good at giving clients a heads up when court dates are coming up, and relaying messages between a lawyer and client. You will get calls from your attorney’s paralegal person to let you know what to bring to court, where to show up, when court starts for the day (usually 9:00 am), and when your attorney will meet you before court begins. So, neither your attorney nor your paralegal have any interest in dragging out your DUI case.
On the other hand judges routinely push back court dates because of the always-full caseload every courtroom in Atlanta is experiencing post-Covid. The whole legal system has to be fluid because each case is different, and lawyers have different priorities, and prosecutors work a lot of cases. No DUI case gets resolved in weeks. Expect your court dates to change, including your arraignment and your last court appearance. We still are working cases that have gone beyond one year’s duration. Larry and Cory know you want this whole awful episode to be over, but avoiding a lifelong conviction is way more important than finishing up your case and getting convicted because the required amount of preparation time for each new court date was rushed.
The best DUI lawyer in Georgia is one who sets realistic expectations for clients, and doesn’t promise any outcome or case timeline. Georgia DUI laws get amended all the time and can impact upcoming cases. The DUI lawyers near me does their best to keep things moving so you can get back to living your life without all this legal stress.
How Much Does a DUI Lawyer Cost in GA?
It is almost impossible to answer this question. The reason is if you went with a cheap Atlanta DUI lawyer he or she may only charge you $2,000, which seems like a deal until you realize the attorney is just going to show up in court on day 1 and enter a guilty plea for you. There will be no fight. He or she should at least tell you during a free lawyer consultation that they plan to plead guilty because they have seen your arrest video and you don’t stand a chance against that tough Fulton County prosecutor – so why bother?
You have every legal right to hire this lawyer and have him speak for you in front of the judge, and all he or she will say is we plead guilty to all charges. You don’t need a lawyer for that. Save your money and tell the judge yourself. Use that money to pay off the high court fines you owe upon conviction, or to pay for an ignition interlock device that lets you drive your car only after you blow into a device that can detect alcohol on your breath.
But if there is NO WAY you can go through life with a permanent conviction on your permanent arrest record then it is time to get serious. Larry Kohn and Cory Yager are serious. No Atlanta criminal defense attorney can promise you that charges will be dropped if you hire their law firm. That would be the same as the Atlanta Falcons picking up a star quarterback and he guarantees a Super Bowl appearance by his second season. It just doesn’t work that way. So, the best way to see how successful a lawyer has been is to read as many reviews as you can from previous clients. If the attorney has a large number of reviews that is a good indicator of how well he or she will do in your unique situation.
A Georgia DUI conviction, including a first offense DUI conviction, will cost you tens of thousands of dollars over the course of your life. First offense DUI lawyer cost up front has to be weighed against possibly losing your current job. You may lose your current spouse. You will fear ever going on a business trip and trying to rent a car. You will have to report to a probation officer for at least a year. For these reasons you at least should sit down with Larry or Cory and tell them what happened, and how this arrest will impact every area of your life. If you were to add up the total lifelong cost of a DUI conviction, that figure would be in the $100,000 range. More expensive auto insurance premiums, community service, alcohol and drug counseling, job loss, and hiding the fact that you spent time in jail all await a convicted driver. DUI lawyer price plans are available and will be talked about during your free initial consultation.
How to Get a DUI Dismissed in Georgia
DUI lawyers across Georgia measure career success by what percentage of DUI cases get dismissed every year for their clients. If you are reading this in the hopes of finding the best DUI lawyer for your Atlanta case, you probably want nothing more than for this whole thing to just go away. DUIs stay on your permanent criminal record forever. Georgia does not offer expungement, which means any criminal convictions will be invisible to anyone running a background check on you, with law enforcement being the exception. The police in all 50 states can still pull up every conviction from every year in every state through a national database.
But you don’t want future employers to tell you that hiring you depends on you passing a background check, and you living in fear for the next 2 weeks. At Kohn & Yager law firm we say over and over that a DUI arrest is not a conviction – far from it. Larry Kohn anjd Cory Yager have many ways to reduce charges, or have your entire case dismissed if evidence was collected illegally, or the cops stopped you for no valid legal reason. Police in every city in the metropolitan area, including Johns Creek, Marietta, Roswell, Alpharetta, Cumming, Canton, Woodstock, and Milton are required to follow proper detain and arrest procedures when making a drunk driving arrest, or your case may be thrown out.
The job of any criminal defense attorney Georgia is to look at all evidence, including body cam foot videos, field sobriety test results, blood alcohol BAC levels, eyewitness testimony (if you caused an automobile accident), breath test and blood test results, and why you were stopped to uncover any illegal actions taken by the arresting officer. If only one rules violation is found your whole case could be dismissed. Mistakes happen every day – police departments across the country are short-staffed, which means every officer can make up to 5 DUI arrests per day. Overworked police departments do not get it right 100% of the time. Our job is to cross-examine the police officer to find where procedures were not followed.
How Much Does a DUI Lawyer Cost in Georgia?
A DUI charge in Georgia, even if it’s your first ever arrest, is taken very seriously by state prosecutors no matter what friends or coworkers tell you. They may also say things like “DUI lawyer waste of money” even if no one in your social circle has ever been arrested for any crime. That is understandable. People do it all the time: contempt withour prior investigation is how one former client put it. People just don’t comprehend how damaging a criminal conviction can be to a person’s future. And there is always the social stigma of having been convicted of a crime even one that is classified as a misdemeanor in most cases.
If you were unfortunate enough to have caused a serious wreck while drunk, or hit another car and injured the occupants, even a first DUI with these extenuating circumstances will be charged as felony DUI. Of course the conviction penalties for a felony are much more severe and include a longer jail sentence, more community service hours, steeper court fines, an expensive ignition interlock device, DUI classes, longer probation period, and alcohol and drug assessments. All of these requirements cost money, so when comparing the cost of criminal lawyers Atlanta with the lifelong trouble a felony DUI conviction brings, attorney fees seem like a bargain.
Again, when asking yourself, “How much is a DUI lawyer in Georgia?” please weigh all costs associated with a lifelong conviction. Larry Kohn or Cory Yager will make sure you understand all costs involved when you meet with them during your free initial consultation. The question and answer session is completely free and usually takes place at our Sandy Springs law office. We have 4 other satellite offices around the Atlanta area, so we are flexible on location and time, including weekend slots available.
What Is the 3-Hour Rule for DUI in Georgia?
Georgia’s 3-hour rule for DUI states that a driver’s blood alcohol content (BAC) must be tested within 3 hours for the test to be valid. This is because a person’s BAC number will decrease as the body processes the alcohol and eliminates it from the bloodstream. There are two breath tests given to a suspected drunk driver: the portable breath test administered by a police officer at the roadside, and the official breath test administered at the jail using an Intoxilizer 9000 machine. It is this second test that must be given within 3 hours of a driver being pulled over and stopping the vehicle. A blood test may be substituted for a breath test if the driver refuses to give a breath sample. Again, any type of sample must be drawn withuin 3 hours of stopping operation of the vehicle.
If the arresting officer waits too long to administer the breath or blood test, our criminal defense law team can challenge this evidence in an effort to have these results excluded from the case. Georgia DUI charges include what is called a DUI per se, which means a driver’s blood alcohol concentration cannot be at or above 0.08%. This BAC level is for drivers in Georgia over 21 years old. For drivers under 21 the officiasl BAC is 0.2%. For commercial drivers the legal BAC limit is 0.04%. A first DUI in Georgia has the same legal BAC limit as a second or third DUI offender. The penalties are much harsher for multiple convictions, and Larry Kohn and Cory Yager have defended many clients with more than one conviction on their recor
What Is the Best Case for a First Time DUI?
The best case scenario for a first DUI in Georgia is for your lawyer to have the entire case dismissed. While rare, our attorneys have achieved this outcome. Another favorable outcome is to have your DUI charge reduced to a lesser charge like reckless driving. It is still a conviction for a traffic offense but the consequences are not as hard. When deciding on hiring the best Atlanta DUI lawyer you can find, it is not wise to assume your charge will be reduced and thus a reckless driving conviction will cost less than a DUI.
How Much Does It Cost to Fight a DUI in Georgia?
The key word here is “fight.” A cheap DUI lawyer may sound like a bargain, but you may not get a true fighter, someone who will challenge every shred of evidence, file motions on your behalf, work with the prosecutor and present any plea agreements to you, and present a solid defense on your behalf. One cost of a DUI that I haven’t mentioned is bail money to get you out of jail. How much is bail for a DUI in Georgia? Bail amounts for DUI can be as high as $2,500 and the amount is calculated based on several factors. How severe are the DUI charges? Is it a misdemeanor, or a felony? Have you been arrested before? Did you skip bail in the past?
After your arrest a judge sets the bail amount. You can pay the entire amount and get released, or you can get a bonding company to pay a percentage of the bond. While out on bail you must not break any more laws, no matter how minor. If the you complete all court requirements, the bail is refunded minus any fees the bondsman charges.
It can be very stressful trying to find a good DUI lawyer while keeping your arrest a secret at work and at home. You don’t have much time to do web searches or call law firms on your lunch break, and hiring a good Georgia defense attorney can be so bewildering. Larry Kohn and Cory Yager are here to take this big problem off of your shoulders. They will set up a free initial consultation after hours and on Saturday if that is helpful. The attorney-client privilege is very strong here at Kohn & Yager. We only communicate with our client and not other family members unless the client specifically asks us to include family. Our phone number is (404) 567-5515. Our Sandy Springs office is in The Prado at the top of the Perimeter. We can help and we know what to do.