It’s a position no one wants to be in and a mistake no one wants to make, but sometimes even a good driver can find his or herself faced with a DWI charge in New Jersey. If you don’t feel you are guilty you will be swamped with panic, anger and fear for what will happen to you once you have your day in court. If you did overindulge, you may have feelings of guilt, remorse, and trepidation about the judge’s verdict.

Before grappling with any of that, however, the first thing you should do if you get a DWI Ocean County is to contact an attorney. It could mean the difference between moving past this incident and having it haunt you for the rest of your life.

First, it is important to understand that getting a DUI can be a very expensive lapse in judgment. Between fines, court costs, suspension of license, insurance rate hikes and more, you may be looking at more than $10,000 coming out of your pocket. Keep that in mind before you balk at the comparatively low cost of hiring an attorney to represent you when you go to court.

What can an attorney do for you if you have a DUI Ocean County, New Jersey?

Save Your License

Perhaps more than any single thing, this is what those facing a DWI charge are looking to avoid. In New Jersey, a guilty verdict on a DWI results in an automatic suspension of your driver’s license. There is no avoiding it. The days of being able to plea to a non-DUI charge are over.

Or are they?

Get The Charges Changed

No attorney can guarantee getting your DWI charge turned into something else, but one thing is for certain: YOU’RE not going to make it happen. A good lawyer who specializes in Ocean County DWI charges, on the other hand, may recognize flaws in the case against you. If the case is flimsy enough – and it happens more often than you think, because prosecutors know most people do not fight these charges – the prosecutor may be willing to do a please bargain. This is especially true if he or she has a working relationship with your attorney.

One way that happens is by knowing how these cases work.

Find Flaws In The Case

Police are well-trained, but they are still only human. Mistakes happen. If your sobriety check was not done correctly or the equipment for your breathalyzer was not properly calibrated or the paperwork was not completed the way it should be under State of New Jersey law, you may have a chance to win in court. A layman would not recognize these issues, however. A trained attorney would.

Remember, there are no guarantees. Courts do not look favorably on DUI charges, especially in New Jersey, and mandatory penalties can be stiff. That’s why it may be to your benefit to hire an attorney if you face a DUI in Ocean County or at the Jersey Shore.

Because a any chance is better than none at all.