Be careful when researching lawyers!   

Be careful when researching lawyers! There are some unethical lawyers out there advertising that they win over 90% of their DWI cases.That’s bullshit!  Avoid those lawyers! They are lying, or at a minimum they’re using an extremely loose definition of “winning a DWI case.” Some lawyers include probation as winning a DWI case. That’s nonsense and it’s completely misleading! That’s LOSING a DWI case and ending up on probation!

Winning a DWI case means you get a not guilty verdict or the case dismissed – period!  Anything else is not “winning” a DWI.  Even a plea bargain reducing a DWI down to an “Obstruction of a Highway” charge is not really winning a DWI – it’s getting a very good compromise outcome, but it’s not winning. Winning means your client walks away with no punishment, no fine, no probation, and nothing on their record.

If I defined “winning a DWI case” as 1) getting a not guilty verdict, or 2) getting the case dismissed, or 3) beating the prosecution’s initial plea bargain offer, or 4) getting probation, then I would win over 98% of my DWI cases. But that 98% number would be highly misleading and virtually meaningless. It would also be highly unethical to publish that type of success rate without some extremely clear explanations and disclaimers. I don’t believe lawyers should advertise that way, and a person should be extremely cautious about hiring a lawyer using that type of misleading advertising. If a lawyer would mislead you about that to get you to hire them, what else would they be willing to mislead you about? You shouldn’t trust them with your money.

John Gioffredi, Attorney 

Dallas, Texas