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The defense of drinking drivers is one of the most complex areas of law. A well informed and well trained practitioner must not only master the trial skills and general legal principles involved, but must also possess a comprehensive understanding of the many difficult areas of science that are applicable in nearly every case. The sciences include the metabolism of alcohol, the science of breath and blood testing and to a certain extent, the technical or pseudo-scientific principles applied by the drug recognition expert and of standardized field sobriety testing. While the hard sciences evolve relatively slowly, the law changes constantly and at a fairly rapid clip. Keeping abreast of the law, science and technical skill necessary to zealously defend the drinking or drug using driver often requires a minimum of 50 hours of continuing education per year. In order to stay at the top of their field, many of the top Hampton DUI Lawyer spend two to three times this number of hours per year obtaining or refreshing this cutting-edge knowledge. Then there are the consequences, which for even a single drunk driving offense can be devastating for many, and on the whole, are certainly more significant than many other criminal offenses, including those that are traditionally considered more serious. A first - offense drunk driving conviction often means at least some loss of liberty, if not actual incarceration, thousands of dollars in fines, and even more in collateral economic damages and non-judicial or non-administrative collateral consequences. There are usually moderately severe driver's license sanctions to contend with as well. If someone is a repeat offender, then incarceration in many states is a near or absolute certainty, and driving privileges can be revoked for life. In addition to the significant knowledge base required of a DUI defense expert or hampton DUI Lawyer, and the increasingly draconian penalties involved, a proper defense requires a considerable time commitment. A minimum of three office meetings and this will require a minimum of 4-6 hours of the lawyer’s time. Obtaining and reviewing the discovery can easily take an additional 1.5-5 hours. Even with a negotiated plea, there are likely to be 2 to 3 appearances, and this will minimally require another 3-6 hours of time. Additionally, there are likely to be several phone calls and/or emails with the client, as well as with the prosecutor, court and police agencies. This will minimally add another 1-3 hours. Then there is the visit to the location of the arrest, which is likely to minimally require another 1 hour. Thus, even an uncontested case will require between 12 5 and 24 hours. Author Bio James Stew writes informative and unique articles about hampton va dui hearing
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