Who Is The "Best" or "Top-Rated" DUI Defense Attorney in Orange County, California?

Some firms have a big name, but all the DUI cases are handled by a considerably less experienced lawyer without any input at all from the "big-named attorney".  Some firms have a big named attorney; but the attorney has not really been involved in the day-to-day practice of DUI Defense. Being a "Top-Rated" DUI Attorney requires more than knowledge of the law, it requires the right relationships.  Only DUI Lawyers who actually practice law on a day-to-day basis should be considered in your decision to hire Orange County's Best DUI Attorney.

Other firms may have several big-named attorneys, but those firms often take on too many cases at one time to be able to personally talk with you about your DUI case and/or answer any questions or concerns you have regarding your DUI case.

In choosing a lawyer, or in choosing Orange County's "Best" DUI Attorney, make sure the DUI Lawyer is available to you to answer the important questions you have regarding your Orange County DUI case.

In choosing a lawyer, you may also want to avoid those firms that have no mention of the attorneys, only a vague reference to a law group without providing any information about the actual identity of the lawyers that make up the law group.  How can you as a consumer put faith in a law firm that only refers to itself as an "XYZ Law Group" with no mention as to who the actual attorneys are or whether they actually specialize in DUI Defense in Orange County, California. The DUI Lawyers of The SoCal Law Network are named partners: Peter F. Iocona, Alan Castillo, and Marlo Cordero. Collectively, they constitute Orange County's "Best" or "Top-Rated" DUI Defense Firms .

Often, you will see lawyers who claim to have offices in Orange County, California; but who actually have true offices only in Los Angeles, particularly Wilshire or Grand Avenue office addresses, or even Santa Monica; but have no true offices in Orange County. I could name more than a few; but you know who they are just by doing your research.

The reality is, these lawyers and the members of these firms are known by the Orange County District Attorney's Office to be out-of-county lawyers who think they are in Los Angeles County. Make no mistake, the criminal justice system in Los Angeles County is far different than the criminal justice system in conversative Orange County, California.

One such distinction is in the mentality of jurors. Los Angeles Prosecutors have a more difficult time obtaining convictions in DUI matters where in Orange County, they are prosecuting and convicting those with breath and/or blood alcohol concentrations as low as 0.05%.

Another distinction is in the fact that Los Angeles County does not typically test for drugs, whether illicit or prescription, in the blood samples obtained as part of their DUI Investigations and subsequent prosecutions. Orange County, however, tests every blood sample for the presence of illicit and prescription drugs, including such things as over-the-counter antihistamines and/or sleep medications.

Lastly, and most importantly, jail time is heavily imposed in Orange County as opposed to Los Angeles County. If your alleged Orange County DUI Attorney is really a Los Angeles DUI Attorney, he/she will not know how to approach a case involving jail and/or prison time before Orange County Judges and Prosecutors.

Do your homework. Do not make the mistake of hiring a poser Orange County DUI Attorney who is actually a Los Angeles DUI Attorney.

As a suggestion, you may want to avoid what are often called "dump truck" lawyers: lawyers who do not actually review a case prior to advising the client to accept the plea. This is because there are often legal issues involved that could result in the DUI charges being reduced, or even dismissed outright. If the DUI case is not thoroughly analyzed by a competent and qualified Orange County DUI Defense Lawyer, you may miss an opportunity to have the case resolved more favorably.  Only choose an attorney who subpoenas evidence and thoroughly analyzes the evidence. If you want to just plead guilty, so yourself the time and the money and just plead guilty. Why hire a "dump truck" lawyer to plead you guilty without looking at any of the evidence when you could just do that yourself? 

These "dump trunk" lawyers often an enticing rate; but consider this: you get what you pay for. But why not have the best if the best attorney is also reasonable? Peter F. Iocona, Attorney at Law, and the Orange County DUI Lawyers of The SoCal Law Network thoroughly review every DUI case, analyzing it for legal and factual defenses that can result in a reduced charge or a finding of "Not Guilty" by a jury or even a judge in certain instances.

In choosing a lawyer, especially in trying to find the "Best" Orange County DUI Attorney to handle your case, you may also want to avoid attorneys who imply or state that they have a "special relationship" or "connection" with certain prosecutors, judges or hearing officers because it is unlikely that most of people would put their jobs on the line for such a "relationship". A good Orange County DUI Defense Attorney should have a solid reputation for fighting for his or her clients while also still maintaining a reputation of professional decorum with the judges and prosecutors. The best defense is a well-prepared defense. Do not trust your Orange County DUI case to just anyone, trust it to a lawyer who gets results.

In choosing a lawyer, you may also want to avoid lawyers who are still prosecutors at heart. If the lawyer still has "ties" to convicting those charged of crime, than that conflict of interest cannot be to your benefit. Not one of the lawyers of The SoCal Law Network is a former prosecutor or police officer. Not one of the lawyers has ever held a position where they were responsible for placing a person in jail for any type of crime for which one may be charged and seeking representation. Do your research in deciding which DUI lawyer to represent you in your Orange County or Southern California DUI case.

You only want to hire an Orange County DUI Lawyer who keeps up with DUI law. You want to be certain that the DUI attorney you choose keeps up with the case law and statutory changes relating to the defense of DUI. 

You also want to be sure that the DUI lawyer belongs to organizations that focus on defending those charged with Driving Under the Influence, such as the National College for DUI Defense (NCDD), the DUI Defense Lawyers Association (DUIDLA), and also the California DUI Lawyers' Association (CDLA), where Mr. Iocona frequently lectured at seminars throughout the State of California. 

Peter F. Iocona and the DUI Defense Lawyers of The SoCal Law Network are members of the National College for DUI Defense (NCDD) and of the California DUI Lawyers' Association (CDLA) and were "Contributing Editors" to the two-volume treatise: "California Drunk Driving Law" from 2003 to 2016. Peter F. Iocona and the experienced DUI Lawyers of The SoCal Law Network not only know the law, they helped write the book on it every year. 

In choosing a lawyer, especially an Orange County DUI Defense Attorney, it is important to also be sure that the DUI Lawyer has received and obtained the proper training, "qualifications" and "certifications" necessary to properly defend a person charged with DUI in Orange County. Such training would include training or "qualifying" as a Standardized Field Sobriety Test "Administrator". Better yet, if the DUI Attorney has "qualified" as a Standardized Field Sobriety Test "Instructor" as a "SFST Instructor" has received the training and obtained the status as one who is authorized to teach others how to properly administer and evaluate the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests. 

Attorney Peter F. Iocona has "qualified" as both a Standardized Field Sobriety Test "Administrator" as well as an "Instructor". Mr. Iocona has been certified" in the proper administration in some of the breath testing devices used in Orange County, California. Mr. Iocona uses this training to determine whether and legal or factual defenses exist in your Orange County DUI case.

In choosing an Orange County DUI Attorney, you also want to check the Orange County DUI Lawyers Reviews and Ratings, such as those that can be found on Google, Yelp, and AVVO.

AVVO is an "attorney-rating" service that accumulates data on participating and non-participating attorneys in all disciplines. With AVVO, participating attorneys have the ability to place all their credentials on one page. AVVO also allows users to ask attorneys questions that participating attorneys can answer free-of-charge. Just because an attorney answers questions does not make him/her a great attorney, but one can gain a better understanding of the attorney's competency by reading his or her answers.  Additionally, one can gain a better understanding of how the DUI attorney is viewed by other attorneys in his or her discipline; but be aware of the fact that the peer reviews may have been obtained by friends of the attorney, and not really peers. All in all, however, the website is a convenient tool in locating an attorney, but be sure to read all of the reviews from all of the sites that are available anywhere.