FREE Case Evaluation Questionnaire Instructions

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We will evaluate your case FREE of charge. WE MUST KNOW WHAT STATE YOU WERE ARRESTED IN, TO BE ABLE TO DIRECT YOUR INQUIRY.  Please fill out the Potential Client Questionnaire and submit it to us.  All information coming to us is transmitted via secured lines and is strictly confidential.

Once we receive your Questionnaire someone will contact you.

YOU NEED TO ASSIST US, TO THE BEST OF YOUR ABILITY.  We may need to assist you in sending a request for a hearing on your DMV/DPS license suspension/revocation (ALS/ALR) matter, if indeed your license is at risk.  This is true in over 95% of our cases.  You can determine if your license is at risk by reading about the IMPLIED CONSENT WARNING.

TEN DAY WARNING!  You only have 10 “BUSINESS” DAYS TO FILE IN GEORGIA.  We do not require that you hire any of our attorneys before we prepare and file this letter in your name, but we do charge a nominal fee for preparing (and sending by certified mail) the letter in your name outlining all available legal attacks on the Police Officer's proposed suspension of your license.  The letter that we prepare for you is extremely technical and detailed.  Once we prepare it, you pay for the letter, sign it and we send it on your behalf by CERTIFIED MAIL and we also send it by FAX to the Georgia Department of Motor Vehicle Safety, as an extra precaution to assure delivery of this CRITICAL letter requesting a hearing.  All of this is done for a fee of $100.00, if you come in to sign the letter and pay us while you are here. We can also handle this by phone if you have a MAJOR CREDIT CARD that we can charge this to. If you wish to do this, we will send the letter to DDS under your name on your behalf. We will send you a copy of your letter and we can mail to you our comprehensive questionnaire and our one-of-a-kind information package

DETAILS FROM YOU CAN HELP US FIND A WINNING ATTACK.  Once we have sent this letter appealing the proposed suspension of your license, we depend on you to READ the information that we provide to you for FREE, and we also depend on you to FILL OUT COMPLETELY the questionnaire that we have created to help us to find ways to win your case. Your memory and recollection of the events that led up to your arrest are critical, and so are the facts that occurred at the roadway, at jail, etc. Our forms cover everything, but your informed, detailed input is essential.

WE WILL CONTACT YOU A.S.A.P.  When you have completed and RETURNED the paperwork that we have requested, we will have someone call you immediately (or THE NEXT BUSINESS DAY, when received after normal business hours) to set up an appointment for you with one of our attorneys, so that you can discuss your case fully AT NO COST TO YOU. When we call you back, your questionnaire will have already been reviewed by one of our PARTNERS, and we will try to outline some of the positive aspects of your case as well as identify weaknesses in the case.

HOW WE “MATCH” UP YOUR CASE.  We will also match your case to one of our attorneys, based on FOUR primary factors: (1) geographic location in which your case is pending; (2) whether you plan to FIGHT your case or seek a non-trial negotiated plea; (3) whether special complications exist (i.e., prior DUIs on your record that may play a significant role in the current case; and (4) your budget, since our range of fees in many courts can vary by 300% to 400% within our own office.  If you want to see a particular attorney, we honor that request as much as we can, if sufficient time to set an appointment has been given to us.  Please note that if you interview with Mr. Head (or whomever you have asked to see), and the attorney who interviews you thinks that another partner or associate can handle your case with the BEST CHANCE TO WIN, he will recommend that you permit the other lawyer to handle the case for you.  If this is the case, we will explain why we are suggesting this course of action.

FEES PAID IN INCREMENTS.  Our fees are “phased in” (paid in increments) so that the fee matches the relative amount of work required to get a favorable (or desired) resolution.  In a substantial percentage of our cases, some non-DUI DISPOSITION can be obtained WITHOUT trial, and you will then not be obligated for the full fee under your contract terms. 

“CAPPED” FEES.  Our fees are also “capped” or limited to a pre-set maximum amount for the trial phase of the case.  Unless an appeal is required, you never pay more than the contracted fee.  As mentioned above, you may pay LESS, if an early disposition can be accomplished.  We try to do this in all of our cases because negotiating a case for a non-DUI disposition means a “win” for you and for us, without risking the extra cost and perils of going to trial (e.g., loss of driver’s license, additional jail time).  By settling a significant number of our cases WITHOUT A DUI GOING ON YOUR RECORD also lets us handle more cases than if we had to go to trial in every case.  You win.  We win, too.

CASE COSTS.  Every case will have some “costs” involved, and these are your obligation.  Typical costs are items such as obtaining police reports, videotapes, serving subpoenas, hiring a court reporter (the person who “records” word-for-word everything said in court), courier expenses, etc.  Some cases have very little in the nature of costs; others can cost more based on what has to be done to seek to achieve a favorable result.

BENCH TRIALS SAVE MONEY, IF APPROPRIATE.  In some cases, and with a few fair-minded judges, we might recommend utilizing a BENCH trial (allowing your case to be heard by a judge only---using no jury) IF WE DETERMINE THAT some strategic or tactical advantage can be obtained from such a decision.  Some judges are so fair that the chances of a success with the judge deciding the case will be equal or greater to putting the case in front of a jury for them to decide.  If a bench trial occurs, you will SAVE MONEY over the cost of a jury trial, in most instances.  Why?  A bench trial takes less time that a jury trial, and we provide for this in our fee contract with you. 

WE QUOTE FEES AT YOUR FREE APPOINTMENT.  You may be worried about what this all will cost.  WE CANNOT QUOTE YOU A FEE OVER THE PHONE.  We reserve quoting fees until after the FREE interview.  Our fees to endeavor to secure a non-DUI disposition, dismissal, reduction of charges or ACQUITTAL (when you are found to be NOT GUILTY by the judge or jury) can range from $2,500 for an attorney in our office being able to procure an early dismissal or reduced plea (in some cases), to $15,000 or more for our most experienced attorney, Mr. William C. Head, if a jury trial is required to reach a resolution of the case.  A simple negotiated plea of “guilty” (if approved by you, after we advise what we think can be done to fight the case) is far less than this amount.  However, YOU decide on which attorney you will hire.  Furthermore, you tell US WHAT YOU WANT TO DO in the case, and we are only here to give you the OPTIONS available.  The fee range for our lawyers will offer you a chance to FIGHT THE CASE, if you desire to do so.  Remember, the fees are capped.

FEES MATCH THE WORK WE MUST DO.  Typically, our fees are paid in installments, with a “retainer” being paid to cover the investigation of the case, pre-trial discussions, scheduling court appearances, preparing for and attending all initial hearings (administrative and criminal), preparing and filing “discovery” requests, filing “motions” (written requests of the judge to exclude certain parts of the police officer’s evidence, on a variety of legal grounds), viewing the videotapes (if any), and similar early preparation steps.

RANGE OF FEE OPTIONS.  You will be offered 3 to 5 fee options, in most cases, depending on where the case is pending and the other factors set out above.  We do accept all major credit cards, and can utilize a periodic “charge” of your card for a fixed sum each month, or do this on a consenting family member’s card (or friend’s card), once certain forms are signed. 

YOU LIKELY HAVE TWO PROBLEMS.  License suspension hearings (created by being arrested for DUI), prior to your day in CRIMINAL court are separate matters from the criminal case and are heard by the a judge (an attorney) from the Office of State Administrative Hearings (OSAH).  Hence, in a typical DUI case, you are facing two problems, in two different legal proceedings, before two different judges.

NO GUARANTEES ARE POSSIBLE.  No attorney performing criminal defense services can guarantee any results nor offer a “money back guarantee” for results.  The State Bar Rules that control all Georgia lawyers’ duties to clients prohibit this.  However, based on our attorneys handling of over 14,000 criminal cases over a combined 80 years of law practice, we generally can give you some idea of what to expect during the progress of the DUI case. 

REMAIN SILENT.  Not discussing the case with anyone (who is not an attorney) is probably best, because your conversations are not likely “privileged” (i.e., the confidentiality is not protected), and the prosecutor could try to call any non-attorney as a potential witness against you at trial.  This is particularly true if an ACCIDENT has occurred, and you are asked to provide a recorded statement for an insurance adjuster.  DON’T DO IT, until you have secured legal counsel, and have his/her guidance on how to proceed with this type of CIVIL obligation.

VALUABLE PACKAGE.  The package that you will receive from our office includes materials worth more than $35.00. What do you have to lose? The questionnaire package is FREE and the appointment is FREE.  Our clients typically are men and women who have too much to lose to accept a DUI conviction on their record for the remainder of their lives.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:  Our office has the largest number of attorneys of any private law firm in the United States whose primary area of practice is DUI defense.  We are TRIAL lawyers.  Our business is not designed to plead you guilty or nolo contendere in the overwhelming majority of cases, but to find a non-DUI solution to this troubling problem that you face.  We are able to do this in a significant majority of our cases without trial.  Remember our motto:  “An Arrest is NOT a Conviction!” ^sm

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