Do I Need a Lawyer for My Michigan Driver License Restoration?

Reinstate License Online Michigan | Lawyers to Help Get License Back

If your license was revoked due to multiple OWI convictions, then a license revocation lawyer will help maximize the chances of getting your license back. It is possible to do it yourself, but this is not recommended.

Don’t let your prior bad experience with lawyers keep you from hiring one this time.If you want your driver license reinstated, your best chance involves hiring a Michigan license reinstatement lawyer. Here’s why:

If you don’t hire a lawyer you increase the risk of losing, and losing is bad. If you lose your hearing, your chances of getting a Michigan driver’s license back is zero. In fact, your license will remain revoked, and you can’t ask again for a license again for another full year.

Also, your driver license hearing will be heard in front of an Administrative Law Judge working for the Michigan Secretary of State. You have the burden of proof. You will be required to submit your evidence to the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) who will weight this evidence and determine if you’ve met your burden.

This is a legal proceeding with a specific burden of proof and evidentiary requirements. Without an attorney to help navigate the legal waters, it is likely that your testimony and evidence will be submitted incorrectly.

Top 5 reasons you need a lawyer that helps with driver license restoration:

1. You end up with a deficient substance use evaluation. You will need a therapist to evaluate you. An inexperienced therapist won’t know how to prepare the license restoration substance use evaluation form. They might also use an outdated form. Your experienced reinstatement lawyer at the Barone Defense Firm will review your evaluation and make sure it will maximize your chance of getting your license.
2. You’ll use bad character letters. Like the substance use evaluation, character letters must be in a certain format, and must contain all the important information. There are many nit-picky little things that ALJ’s use as excuses to deny you, and your lawyer will review these letters to be sure they have everything they need.
3. You don’t have enough sobriety. What you may consider sobriety may not be what the ALJ considers sobriety. You also may not have the right proof of sobriety. Your lawyer will help make sure you can meet your burden of proof at the hearing.
4. You fail to testify appropriately. It is very difficult to testify on your own behalf. This is one of the biggest reasons we have the Fifth Amendment. Good testimony requires practice, and your lawyer can help you prepare your testimony.
5. You fail to correct past errors. If you’ve tried before and lost, it’s much harder to win the next time. Your lawyer will review your prior documents and testimony, and the order from the ALJ, and work to be sure all the concerns that caused you to lose before have been addressed.

How Your Lawyer Will Help Assure You Get a License

After explaining what evidence is required, your attorney will offer suggestions for what you can do to ensure that all of the evidence requirements are met. For example, you lawyer can review your letters of support to ensure that they follow your evidentiary standard, prepare your petition with an eye toward consistency and detail, and review also your substance abuse evaluation and drug screen.

Your license lawyer should help to prepare your testimony. At the Barone Defense Firm this will include guiding you through a “question and answer” practice dry run prior to the hearing. Giving testimony is difficult even for experienced witnesses. Plus, the ALJ will be able to ask you questions, and an experienced license restoration lawyer will know what to expect and help you prepare for these questions as well.

Your attorney should also be able to tell you about each ALJ that might hear your case and help you craft your evidence and hearing testimony to satisfy that individual. Preparation is key and a good license restoration attorney will know exactly how to prepare for the Administrative Law Judge who will be deciding your fate.

A license restoration attorney will guide you through the entire process, beginning with a determination of eligibility. Sometimes, even if the necessary time period has passed, you still will be unable to meet your burden of proof and a good lawyer will advise you of this, and what steps might be necessary to make you eligible.

While the cost of a great attorney may be higher, their knowledge and familiarity with the process will save you more in the long run. With all of our preparation and hard work, including preparing your testimony, we will increase the chances of success the first time, saving you repeat hearings in the future. This reason alone makes your legal fees money well spent.

How You Can Hurt Yourself

We have often found that clients who attempt to begin assembling evidence prior to hiring a lawyer make mistakes that only create delay. Unfortunately, this self-help is generally a wasted effort and will not save you money as most legal fees for these matters are “flat fees” that include all the preparation.

It is rarely helpful for you to begin the efforts yourself because the actual requirements are much more specific and detailed than most people realize. If you went in yourself the first time and lost, winning next time is all the more difficult.

When Should You Hire a Lawyer?

It is always the most efficient practice to retain the attorney as soon as you can. This way your lawyer can begin working on your case and getting you ready long before you are even eligible for a hearing. This will result in avoiding an unnecessary waste of time and money and in your getting your license as soon as possible. Keep in mind if your license was suspended you don’t need a lawyer. You only need to wait out the suspension then pay your reinstatement fee. This is the difference been a suspension or a revocation.

Finding a Top Driver’s License Restoration Lawyer Near Me

If your driving privileges have been revoked, you probably searched Google for “top driving license lawyer near me.” This probably lead you to the Barone Defense Firm because we handle license reinstatement hearing around the state. We offer free consultations and have an excellent success record.