Michigan Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog
The law specifies that, in order to win a Michigan driver’s license restoration case, a person must submit proof that meets the “clear and convincing evidence” legal standard. Every license appeal case is decided by a hearing officer, each of whom is a trained professional tasked with evaluating the evidence submitted, listening to what is said, and then concluding whether or not it meets that standard. This installment will tie in to the previous article about how any notion of “you tell me what I need to say” is almost proof-positive that a person is NOT sober, and in no position to win a license appeal.
The inspiration for this piece, like so many others, came from our senior assistant, after another busy day at the office. As we got ready to close up shop one recent afternoon, she remarked that some people mistakenly think they can BS the hearing officers, and that’s because these folks don’t have a clue about the skill those hearing officers bring to their jobs. Unless someone does license appeals for a living, they simply can’t grasp the absolutely central role of the hearing officer, and the depth of experience they have listening to people testify. In the context of a license appeal, that can be a fatal mistake.
It’s critical to understand that, in addition to the key role the hearing officer plays in all of this, he or she does so pursuant to very specific rules, and very clear instructions spelled out in the law. This is huge, but also largely overlooked, and is no doubt one of the reasons that so many license appeals (and especially those of the “do-it-yourself” variety) wind up getting denied. By contrast, our firm GUARANTEES to win every restoration and clearance appeal case we take (more on that later), precisely because we understand the subtleties of the law and rules, and the role of the hearing officer in applying them.
They should be, given that they hear driver’s license restoration and clearance appeals all day, every day. Of course, given that this is also what my team and I do all day, every day, we know exactly what things will cause the hearing officers to respond favorably, and what will have the opposite effect. In our many conversations with callers each day, it’s not that uncommon for a person to say something to us like, “You just tell me what to say, and I can do it,” or “I can say whatever you need me to.” That’s a huge red flag for us, and an almost certain (and unwitting) assurance that the speaker is NOT sober.
There are 2 important things about money and legal services worth noting, and they’re like opposite sides of the same coin: First – you will never get what you don’t pay for when you hire a lawyer. Experienced, skilled and talented lawyers will never compete to be the most “affordable.” The better class of anything is never cheap. Second, it is an unfortunate fact that too many attorneys charge far more than their representation is worth. It’s much easier to wind up paying too much for an average, mediocre lawyer than to get any kind of “deal” for top-notch legal services.
A person called our office from out of state about getting his license back. In this case, because he has a Michigan hold on his driving record but no longer lives here, he would be seeking a “clearance,” meaning a removal of that hold so he could get a license in his new state. After he spoke with Ann, our senior assistant, she related a few interesting details about their conversation: The caller had been sober for over 15 years, had quit drinking immediately after his 4th (and last) DUI, had not driven since then, either, and had also gone to AA early on, up until he felt he had gotten enough out of the program.
My team and I won’t take a case based upon anything other than our complete confidence we can win it, and in that regard, we put our money where our mouths are. Of course, there is a catch: In order for us to take on a driver’s license restoration or clearance case, we need to know that someone has honestly quit drinking, and is genuinely sober. This filters out a lot of people, because while it’s a fact that everyone who has lost his or her license for multiple DUI’s wants it back, it’s also a fact that only a minority of those people have truly given up drinking and adopted an alcohol-free lifestyle.
It is said that “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” so I’m kind of flattered, in a sense, that other lawyers use my blog posts for their ideas. However, I do put a lot of effort into the analysis that goes into some of these installments, and I wonder if I should be mad at the fact that most of the copy-cat versions that I ran across edited much of that out, and thereby really amount to little more than “cheap knock-off” versions, or whether I’d be even madder if someone did try to pass off my analysis and reasoning as his or her own.
The picture you see here is of our actual client, who sent it along with his “thank you” email, and told us to use it on our site or blog (I obscured the company logo on the side of his truck). With the exception of one sentence I took out about him having posting posted a positive review of our firm, what follows are the exact words from that email: “I am so happy and grateful for your law firm! You guys did an amazing job on my case and I am already on the road and driving! Thank you for everything, this is just the beginning of my journey in my new life and I appreciate your efforts!”
The main rule governing driver’s license restorations begins by stating that “The hearing officer shall not order that a license be issued to the petitioner unless the petitioner proves, by clear and convincing evidence, all of the following:” (emphasis added). This can (and, indeed, does) get tricky, because what “clear and convincing evidence” actually means in the context of a driver’s license appeal case is a lot like what it sounds like. A lot – but not completely so – and that’s a very important part of what we’ll be examining in this piece.
In the context of license restoration appeals, some “yabut” people just need help to understand that the rules regarding driver’s license appeals don’t have any flexibility to provide an exception based upon their individual circumstances. Most of them will ultimately accept what they’re told, even if somewhat begrudgingly. There is a rougher side, to this, however, and it’s something that, as Michigan driver’s license restoration lawyers, we hear from some people, who, even after being told how the law works, impatiently respond by saying, “That’s bull$hit!”
As anyone will quickly discover, there are numerous steps involved in the driver’s license restoration process: A person can’t win back his or her license without a hearing, and a hearing can’t be scheduled until all of the required documents have been filed, and they can’t be filed until a person has undergone a substance use evaluation and had his or her letters of support written, and none of that can take place until he or she first decides to undertake a license appeal in the first place. While each of those stages are connected, there is also a larger element at work, and understanding how it affects the big picture will help everything make more sense.