The Law Offices of Lawrence Taylor Video Library
► NOW PLAYING: How Can An Attorney Become More Effective At Defending DUI Cases?
Lawrence Taylor outlines all the important things that DUI defense attorneys must do if they want to provide effective representation for their clients. To be effective, DUI lawyers must do everything from reading books, to attending seminars, to joining organizations like the National College for DUI Defense. If an attorney wants to be an effective DUI defense attorney they must make it their one and only priority. In other words, they must become a specialist in DUI law and make it the only area of the law that they practice in. DUI attorneys not only need the knowledge that is acquired by becoming a specialist in DUI law, but they must also do all the necessary investigation and discovery for every client that they represent. It is this preparation and investigation that is the key to becoming an effective DUI attorney.
Show Transcript
Richard Jacobs (RJ): What do DUI lawyers that want to be successful have to do now and have to do in the future to keep up with the times, to provide a solid defense, to, you know, to not end up in a situation where they’re just a lame duck to their clients?
Lawrence Taylor (LT): Well, I think we’ve touched on it. First, they’ve got a steep learning curve, they’ve got to learn a lot. They’ve got to read books, they’ve got to go to seminars, they’ve got to join organizations like the National College for DUI Defense, they’ve got to learn. Secondly, they’ve got to start specializing. They can’t handle divorces and wills and drunk driving cases. They can’t even as criminal lawyers handle murder cases, drug cases and DUI cases. You’ve got to increasingly, to be able to be that experienced, that focused, that specialized, that knowledgeable. You’ve got to focus on the one type of case. . .
RJ: Okay.
LT: that’s critical. The second thing is, they’ve got to learn to investigate and to prepare the case. They’ve got to learn to get all this information from the crime lab, to get us all this information from the police department, and from the DA, and the DMV. This information is critical; it takes a lot of time. They’ve got to do independent investigation, with their own investigators and expert witnesses, in terms of visiting the scene perhaps, investigating witnesses, and so on. The problem is that too many attorneys don’t know what to look for and charge such a little fee, that they don’t have the time to, that they can justify doing these kind of things.
RJ: Right, right.
LT: So those are the things that have to be done if you’re going to be successful in this field. And by successful, I don’t mean making money, I mean getting results.
RJ: Helping people win.
Lawrence Taylor (LT): Well, I think we’ve touched on it. First, they’ve got a steep learning curve, they’ve got to learn a lot. They’ve got to read books, they’ve got to go to seminars, they’ve got to join organizations like the National College for DUI Defense, they’ve got to learn. Secondly, they’ve got to start specializing. They can’t handle divorces and wills and drunk driving cases. They can’t even as criminal lawyers handle murder cases, drug cases and DUI cases. You’ve got to increasingly, to be able to be that experienced, that focused, that specialized, that knowledgeable. You’ve got to focus on the one type of case. . .
RJ: Okay.
LT: that’s critical. The second thing is, they’ve got to learn to investigate and to prepare the case. They’ve got to learn to get all this information from the crime lab, to get us all this information from the police department, and from the DA, and the DMV. This information is critical; it takes a lot of time. They’ve got to do independent investigation, with their own investigators and expert witnesses, in terms of visiting the scene perhaps, investigating witnesses, and so on. The problem is that too many attorneys don’t know what to look for and charge such a little fee, that they don’t have the time to, that they can justify doing these kind of things.
RJ: Right, right.
LT: So those are the things that have to be done if you’re going to be successful in this field. And by successful, I don’t mean making money, I mean getting results.
RJ: Helping people win.
