Michigan Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog
We can win your license restoration appeal. Our firm guarantees to win every initial restoration and clearance appeal case we take. Our system has been refined over decades. It works so well that your results are guaranteed. This not only protects the client from losing his or her money, it protects us from ever taking a case that we can’t make into a winner. If we ever do lose, our guarantee obligates us to stick with the case until the person does win. The “guarantee” part means without further legal fees. That makes us as invested as our clients in their success.
It’s a simple proposition: Follow our directions, and we’ll win your license restoration case – guaranteed. Unfortunately, there are plenty of people who just have a knack for getting in their own way. They make things harder than they need to be. We encounter this when speaking with someone who wants their license back, but insists on doing it “their way.” That won’t fly with the Secretary of State, and it doesn’t work for us, either. In fact, the point of this article will be a variation on the theme “my way or the highway.” Think of it more as “either our way, or NO highway.”
A recent caller to our office inspired this installment. As we spoke with her, it seemed like we could win her case. She had been sober for a number of years, and might have made a good license restoration client. However, she could not accept the fact that there was no way for us to “speed up” the legal process. Because her child would start school soon, she felt a sudden sense of urgency to get her license back right away. We explained that we could expedite things on our end, but that the Secretary of State works on its own schedule.
She could not accept that. She suggested that we send her to our substance use evaluator before we even had our first meeting. That’s not how we do things, and it doesn’t work for us. It’s important for us to meet with every client BEFORE his or her evaluation. We spend hours prepping him or her for it. As part of that, we complete a form of our own, called a “Substance Abuse Evaluation Checklist.” We send this completed checklist to our evaluator to make sure everything important gets included in the evaluation.
She then suggested she get her letters of support right away, and send them to us. That doesn’t work for us, either. Part of what we go over with our clients at that first meeting is the necessary content for the letters. We also provide a sample copy for him or her to use. No matter what, pretty much all letters, in every case, require substantial editing. That is true even when the person requesting them knows what to ask the writers to include. A person with whom we haven’t met can’t know these things, and is basically flying blind.
This caller wasn’t really interested in any of that. She couldn’t get past the fact that she needed her license in less than a month. We explained that couldn’t happen, even if we did everything on our end in 1 day. That, of course, is impossible, but we were using it for the sake of an example.
She will undoubtedly go from lawyer to lawyer until she finds one who tells her what she wants to hear. Whether that’s out of ignorance or greed, it’s still a sure path to disappointment. For purposes of our article, however, it brings up 3 key points.
First, and as noted, we can win your license restoration. If we take your case, we guarantee to get your license back, or the Michigan hold on your driving record cleared.
Second, we are in business to make money. We don’t make any money by NOT taking cases. However, our firm is fortunate to be busy enough to not have to take on cases that will be a headache.
Third, our guarantee is in place precisely because we have a rock-solid system for winning. If we take your case, then we’ll use that system to win your license restoration appeal. We don’t take a case unless we know we can make it a winner.
We have absolutely no interest in NOT getting paid. We don’t charge our full fee up front, so the longer a case lingers, the longer we go without getting our money. That said, we have even less interest in taking any shortcuts and losing a case. If we have to honor our guarantee following a loss, it means double the work for half the pay.
Our firm wants to take license cases, but, as noted we won’t do that unless we are confident we can prevail. We win far more license appeals in any year than most other attorneys will ever even hear about in their careers. Beyond all the legal stuff, my team and I also know the kind of mindset a client needs to win. Whatever else, that’s not someone who thinks they have all the answers.
Lately, my team and I have encountered a lot of this kind of hard-headedness regarding recreational marijuana. This has become such a big issue that I have addressed in 2 separate recent articles. As noted in each, people contact us claiming to be sober. Then, through our questions, we learn that while the have stopped drinking, they now smoke weed, instead.
That’s a complete deal-breaker.
The only way to win your license restoration case is by being clean and sober, and then proving it. The law sets out those requirements very specifically. When we try to explain this, some people want to argue. They’ll say things like “but marijuana is legal now,” as if that matters.
To get one’s license back, there is a particular legal process that must be followed. This is true no matter how much one may “need” to be able to drive. Our office process does just that. We guarantee to win your license restoration precisely because we know what to do. Our tried and true system is designed to comply with and satisfy the law.
Sometimes, when people express frustration at the process, we have to remind them that we don’t make the rules. Instead, our firm will win your license restoration case precisely because we follow them.
There is another facet to this, and it’s important. There is a certain kind of humbleness – a humility – to people who have really quit drinking and gotten sober. It’s unmistakeable. Some describe it by saying “gratitude is the attitude.” For these people, winning back their driving privileges is usually the last step in their recovery. Most accept why they lost their license, and also accept that getting it back is a process.
Everyone would like it if the process could be easier and faster, but that’s not how life works. My team and I would love to take and win more license appeals. However, even if a sober person is disappointed about the time and effort required to get back on the road, they accept it for it what it is. That kind of mindset is a hallmark of real sobriety.
You can’t win your license restoration without following the process established by the Michigan Secretary of State. However, if our firm takes your case, you will win it back – as long as you follow our process, as well. This isn’t some egotistical notion of “my way or the highway.” Instead, it really is a matter of either our way, or not the highway.
If you are looking for a lawyer to win your license restoration, or obtain the clearance of a Michigan hold on your driving record so that you can get a license in another state, be a wise consumer and read around. This blog is a great place to start. It has over 650 fully searchable articles (to-date) in the driver’s license restoration section. There are 2 new articles added each week. The reader can find more useful information there than any and everywhere else combined.
As you look around, pay attention to how different lawyers explain the license appeal process, and their various approaches to it.
When you’ve done enough reading, start calling around. You can learn a lot by speaking with a live person. Our firm can handle your case no matter where you live. All of our consultations are free, confidential, and done over the phone, right when you call. My team and I are very friendly people who will be glad to answer your questions and explain things. We’ll even happily compare notes with anything some other lawyer has told you.
We can be reached Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. (EST) at 248-986-9700 or 586-465-1980.