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Expert DUI Defense: Your Trusted DUI Lawyer in Utah

Community service and house arrest or home confinement (also known as ankle monitoring or GPS) are some alternative punishments often available to convicted criminals in Utah. An ankle monitor allows a person to go to a few delineated places, such as work, the store or church. Supervised probation, deferred adjudication, a plea held in abeyance and diversion are also options that are available to defendants in some cases. A diversion would occur when there’s not even an admission of guilt, but the parties agree to delay the prosecution for a period of time and require that some terms be met, like no further violations of the law and some community service. If those terms are met, then the charges would be dismissed. Diversions happen but they’re extremely rare. Short of dismissal, they’re the most favorable way to resolve a case.

What Sets Your Firm Apart In Handling Criminal Matters In Utah?

I handle all of my cases personally, so if you hire my law firm, I will be the attorney handling your case. There are many ways to structure a law firm. At some firms there are lots of attorneys with senior partners with whom you may speak once and then never see or hear from them again. Instead, they will have a junior associate handling your case. When you call law firms like this, you end up speaking with secretaries and paralegals. In contrast, I try to practice with a very hands-on and interactive approach. In hiring an attorney, I’d recommend that people meet with the prospective attorney in person and develop a sense of rapport, trust and confidence in that person. You’re making an important decision, and you want to be sure that you are comfortable with your attorney and confident that they are going to do a good job.

I would caution people about attorneys who try to scare people into hiring them. They may do this by telling a potential client that they’re looking at many years in prison and horrible consequences, when in all likelihood, that’s really not the truth of it. On the other hand, I would also caution people about attorneys who promise the moon and the stars and paint a really rosy picture about how they can absolutely get the case dismissed and make everything go away. The probabilities suggest that those two extremes are not true. I always try to be a straight, honest shooter. I try to give my clients an honest evaluation, which sometimes means giving some bad news. For instance, if a person is accused of egregious conduct, has a history and is looking at prison with mandatory minimums for sex offenses, then I am going to tell them that.

You want to find somebody who is going to be honest with you and fair in their fees. You do not want an attorney who is going to charge outrageous amounts of money for services that you can probably get for a lot less money. At the same time, you don’t want to hire the cheapest attorney because they’re probably the cheapest attorney for a reason. In that respect, clients often get what they pay for. So, if you have an attorney who will promise to put on a trial as part of their rock-bottom or their minimal slashed fee, then you have to really ask yourself, “How good of a job are they going to do at this trial since I haven’t paid them to put on a trial?” You would also have to ask yourself whether or not they are going to push you into a resolution or a plea bargain simply because they don’t want to put on a trial that they didn’t expect and aren’t getting paid for.

I don’t include trial in my flat fees unless it’s very clear that the case is going to trial, in which case I would charge for it. Those are some things that my clients have appreciated about my firm, and the reasons why they hire me and would recommend my firm.

For more information on Alternative Programs Available In Utah, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (801) 455-1743 today.

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