Anthony Lowenstein, California DUI Attorney (Interview Transcript):

 

Rich Jacobs of myDUIattorney.org sits down with Anthony Lowenstein, a criminal and DUI attorney servicing Marin County and the San Francisco North Bay area. This is a must-read for anyone facing a DUI charge in the Bay Area.

RJ: How many cases have you handled and in what time period?

 

AL: Well, I haven’t kept track, but I’ve certainly handled several hundred over the last 15 years

 

RJ: And what would you say is your typical DUI client circumstance? Is there more men than women, more first-time or repeat offenders?

 

AL: Well first of all, DUI is an equal opportunity employer that happens to all people across all ages, and across all socio-economic classes. So I would say there’s no stereotypical DUI, it’s actually the kind of thing that can happen to anyone. There are two typical DUI defendant circumstances, however. There’s the one person who really is an alcoholic and has a problem with alcohol, and either has multiple DUIs because of it, or simply has a problem because they are always drinking they are likely to get a DUI whenever they are stopped. The other is the regular, ordinary person, who is not an alcoholic, generally a good and responsible person, but on one particular incident uses bad judgment and/or got unlucky on one particular day, and ended up being accused of DUI as a result.

 

RJ: In your experience, what percentage of your clients are alcoholics, versus just normal people?

 

AL: I would say that the percentage of alcoholics is fairly small, I haven’t done any statistical analysis, but less than 20%. 80% of the people are like I said, in the category of using bad judgment on one particular day and happened to get unlucky.

 

RJ: So it’s the vast minority that is truly “drunk drivers”?

 

AL: Correct, although there is definitely a category of people that get repeat DUIs and who do pose a serious threat and danger with their current problems to society and themselves

 

RJ: Following on from that, what percentage of your clients has a blood alcohol content level that is fairly close to the legal limit, versus being much higher?

 

AL: I would say that more than half of people are significantly above the legal limit of .08. About a quarter to a third of people are very close to the limit meaning between .08 and .10. But certainly two-thirds to three-quarters of people are well above the legal limit.

 

RJ: What percentage of these DUI cases have gone to trial versus settled out of court?

 

AL: It depends which lawyer you ask. In general I would say about 1% of DUI cases go to court and the other 99% settle. With certain lawyers like me or others that are very experienced, and vociferously fight for DUIs, maybe it’s as high as 3 or 4%.

 

RJ: It’s good to know that most of them don’t have to go to court to be resolved.

 

AL: Correct.

 

RJ: What would be your best tip for when someone has just been pulled over?

 

AL: I would say that speaking and saying the minimum amount would be best and try to be as cooperative and focused with the police as you can be at that point.

 

RJ: So talking too much and offering up too much information could get you in more trouble at that point?

 

AL: Correct, the best thing to do is to speak as little as possible and just focus on following directions

 

RJ: For your practice specifically, what kind of help can you offer to people accused of DUI? Can you possibly help reduce their time in jail, or their fines, or maybe get their charge reduced?

 

AL: Well the number one way in which I can help someone is, in most of DUI cases I handle, I either completely prevent or drastically reduce any time that they spend in jail. Right now I’m referring to first-time DUIs. Multiple DUIs are in a different category, but for most, over 90% of the cases I get are first DUIs. And for first-time DUIs, I can prevent completely or drastically minimize the amount of jail time granted. The other thing I can prevent or minimize is the duration of license suspension. So while I may not be able to make a DUI go away where there’s valid evidence for it, I can often negotiate it down to a form of reckless driving or at least completely minimize the consequences to the statutory minimums. That’s the way that I or a good lawyer can add value to a client versus them representing themselves.

 

RJ: Is it wise to take a DUI case to trial or to settle it beforehand if it’s a non-aggravated first time DUI?

 

AL: It really depends on the specific facts and evidence in the case. If you have what I call a valid legal or factual issue then it may very well be worth it to take it to trial. However, you need to consider the fact that in general juries are very, very negatively predisposed towards DUI cases, so you really need to have something solid. If you do not have something solid, it’s better to use that as leverage to negotiate a better deal than to go trial.

 

RJ: In all your years of being a DUI lawyer, what have you learned and witnessed about people with regard to their reaction about arrested and prosecuted?

 

AL: Again 90% of my cases are first-time DUIs and it normally does not rub people the right way when they realize that for the first time in their life they’ve been criminalized, and have been treated like criminals. They’ve had the police stop them, detain them, handcuff them. It really is a slap in anyone’s face to an otherwise law-abiding citizen, who suddenly has become a criminal. So people have a certain amount of indignation, and for the first time they are being threatened with having a criminal record, having their rights violated, their license suspended, so people have a lot of strong reactions at first. At the same time, I have seen a lot of people be contrite and have a lot of self-awareness and acknowledge that they need to take responsibility, have made a mistake and want to pay the consequences, but also want to move on with their life as quickly as possible.

 

RJ: In terms of the punishments associated with DUI, which do people have the most negative reaction to?

 

AL: I would say the license suspension tends to be the most alarming to people not to say that jail time and community service isn’t a deterrent as well. A lot of people absolutely need to drive for work or for family or both, and their license being suspended for any period seems horrific to them, and that seems to be the largest consequence.

 

RJ: Do you feel the current DUI punishments are too harsh or too lax, and why do you feel that way?

 

AL: As a defense lawyer, I would like to say that the reason I fight them is because they are too harsh, but in fact it is a reality statistic that more people die in the United States every year due to alcohol-related traffic accidents, than in both Iraq and Afghanistan combined. So the police are getting tired of basically peeling bodies of the roads that were hurt because of drunk-driving. So most people can understand why drunk-driving really is a threat to human safety and life, so I don’t think the punishments are too harsh.

 

I think that there needs to be a set up that really deters people from drinking and driving and putting that risk to human life. That being said, when I deal with clients one-on-one and I see that person as an individual is not a threat to society, can learn to be a safe driver and safe person, then that’s my greatest joy as a lawyer is to help them navigate and make their way out of the system.

 

RJ: What do you see now is the future of DUI law in terms of the punishments, and how many people are going to commit DUIs?

 

AL: I see DUI as something that will never stop in that alcohol and drugs, both legal and illegal, are part of our society and some people will always indulge and at times over-indulge. I think everyone who drinks has at some point drunk questionably too much and driven and got away with it and without incident or accident. But I think that the police will continually monitor the roads, and that people will be caught over the limit. In California, where I practice, they have implemented a very good regimen which really seeks to educate, more than punish people for the first time around, so that rather than getting too harsh a punishment, they learn a good lesson, so that it never happens again.

 

RJ: What’s the ballpark cost of a DUI from start to finish, assuming that there’s no trial involved and it’s a fairly simple case?

 

AL: On average, my law office charges $5,000 for DUI representation both at court, which is the criminal process, and at the DMV, which is the administrative hearing. If the case were to go trial, that may be an additional $2500. But that is so rare, it’s almost irrelevant.

 

RJ: What would you say makes your firm unique in providing DUI defense?

 

AL: Well, as I said earlier, I really try to identify with the individual, and explain to them that although this seems like a nightmare that has befallen them, in fact this is something that we can get them out of, and get their license back, and have them move on with a good lesson in no time at all. And I try to make it as seamless as possible, where the person gets the maximum amount of the lesson, with the minimum amount of negative consequences, and I get them out of it in the fastest time possible. I also emphasize to my clients that as soon as possible after the DUI I like to help them expunge and clear their criminal record so that they have a clean slate.

 

To hire Anthony Lowenstein, visit www.lowensteinlaw.com, or call 415.492.2888.

 

Watch Anthony Lowenstein's Interview HERE >>