Top 4 Pieces of Advice Your Impaired Driving Lawyer Will Provide

A charge of impaired driving is something to take seriously. The moment you arrive at the police station, exercise your right to contact legal counsel. Even before the lawyer arrives at the station, you are likely to be provided with some basic advice of how to act. Put this counsel to good use and being prepared to face the charges will be less complicated.

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Maintain Your Composure

There’s nothing to gain by being anything less than collected and calm after your arrest. Hopefully, you did not resist or engage in any inappropriate verbal exchanges when you were brought to the station. Your lawyer will suggest that you continue to refrain from activities such as making threats, calling officers names, or physically resisting any attempts to confine you pending the arrival of your counsel. By remaining calm and not engaging in any activity that could be interpreted as attempting to obstruct the case, you won’t have to deal with other charges in addition to impaired driving.

Be Cooperative Within the Limits of the Law

While you are remaining calm and not engaging in any action that would reflect badly on your situation, it also pays to be cooperative with the officers. There are certain protocols they must follow by law and it will be in your best interests to not complicate their efforts to act within those limits. By being cooperative, you also have the opportunity to observe what the officers say and do. This is important, because your lawyer will ask you about what they did, in what order those actions occurred, and even any seemingly offhand remarks the officers make. To the best of your ability, try to remember as much as you can while the officers go about performing their duties.

Defer Questions Until Your Legal Counsel Arrives

One of the rights you have is to not answer questions until your legal counsel arrives. If any attempts to ask questions other than would you like cream and sugar in your coffee should arise, politely remind the officer that you will be happy to respond to questions once your lawyer is present. That will typically mean you are placed in a secure area until your legal counsel shows up.

Tell Your Lawyer Everything

Many lawyers require that clients provide as much information as they can about the events before, during, and after the arrest. That means you should tell your legal counsel everything. Even if some of the information may be a little personally embarrassing, share it anyway. Whatever you say is held in the strictest of confidence and will only be used if it’s relevant to your defence.

If you find yourself in custody after an arrest for driving under the influence or impaired driving, there is no time to waste. Contact the Mass Tsang LLP, Guelph office at once and arrange for a lawyer to take on your case. Remember to cooperate fully from the time you are arrested until the case is resolved. In the long run, your proper conduct and cooperation will make a difference.