It's a Saturday night and you've been out celebrating your recent promotion at work with a few friends. On your way home an officer stops you, he tells you that the reason he stopped you is because you were swerving and that there is a strong smell of alcohol on your breath.

He asks you if you have been drinking tonight, and your response is, yes officer I've have. You submit to a roadside sobriety test and are arrested for DUI or driving under the influence of alcohol.

Monday morning you're back at work after getting a ride from a friend. You're still disoriented and confused about what happened even after thinking about your situation all day Sunday.

The first thing you need to do is to find a qualified DUI attorney to help deal with your pending court proceedings and help you through this maze called the DUI Process. It would be easy to just open up the phone book and find a lawyer who handles DUI cases, but going about finding an attorney in that manor would be a big mistake.

The first thing that you need to do is create a list of the possible candidates that you think would be a good DUI attorney. There are numerous places you can look to find a DUI attorney like the newspaper, Internet search engines or your local phone book.

Now here is the important part, not all DUI attorneys are created equal. Remember that! The key to hiring and retaining a qualified DUI attorney to handle your case is asking the right questions when you are interviewing the attorney. That's right, you need to interview the attorney you plan to hire.

Don't allow yourself to feel intimidated by the attorney, he or she is just a normal human being just like you are. The only difference is he or she happens to be an expert in the area of DUI law just like you are an expert in your career.

Guidelines to follow when interviewing a DUI attorney: · Does the attorney focus solely on DUI defense or does he or she handle other areas of criminal law? Only hire someone that focuses on DUI defense. · Are items such as your dmv hearing, blood reanalysis, expert fees, etc. included in the overall quoted price? · If the attorney guarantees that they can clear your DUI record, run the other way. No qualified DUI attorney would ever make a claim like that. · Request a written contract to record all the expenses. · Is the attorney board certified by the American Bar Association? · Is the attorney a member of and certified by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers or the nacdl?

When interviewing the attorney it is important that you feel like you can work with the attorney and that he or she is really listening to your needs and concerns. If you don't get that impression, move on to the next attorney on your list until you find the right one.

Remember that hiring a qualified DUI attorney is the most important step in the DUI Process.