Let me start by saying Happy New Year to everybody. If you're reading this, you probably had a little too much fun last night, and it may have resulted in being arrested for DUI. The first thing you should do is make sure your license doesn't automatically get suspended because it's nice having a license, you know? The next thing you need to do is find a great lawyer to help you through your DUI charge.

There are a few things to consider when you're trying to find a great attorney. First, you should try to find an attorney that focuses primarily (or only) on DUI cases. You don't want your lawyer to spread himself too thin and miss something that could help your case. If you find a lawyer that only does DUI cases he will be much more able to defend you in court. One such lawyer is Jim Forslund from The Colorado DUI Defense Office.

You should never accept the public defender unless you absolutely have to... it's better than representing yourself (unless you're a lawyer). A public defender is somebody just out of law school who has to take on tons of cases, and therefore will give your case very little time or consideration. Remember, a DUI charge can end up costing more than $10,000, and if staying out of jail is priceless to you, get a good DUI lawyer and ditch the public defender.

Colorado has some of the more severe DUI penalties too. For example, if you're BAC is high enough, you can be required to serve a jail sentence, even if it's your first DUI. Your lawyer can help keep you out of jail, assuming he knows what he's doing. I have a friend who has been arrested for DUI three times, and he was only sentenced to house arrest, no jail time. That should be proof enough that a good lawyer makes a difference in your life.

When you're looking for a lawyer to help you, make a list of 10 or so, and give them a call. Ask them if they specialize in DUI cases (this is important). If they do, ask how many DUI lawyers they have at their firm. The more lawyers the better, because if one person misses something, his partner might catch it. And when the stakes are this high, it's very important to choose the right defendant. You can also ask them what their track record is like for similar DUI cases. Try to get as much information as possible before making your decision.

Next, look the company up online and see what other people had to say about them. You might find mad clients who didn't like this lawyer for whatever reason. You could find out these attorneys are the best in the world and you need to hire them now. Just don't assume anything, do the research and get the facts.

It's also good to learn as much as possible about DUI laws. Of course you won't be defending yourself, but that doesn't mean you have to be clueless about the process or the laws. Maybe you forget to tell your lawyer something, then you discover that something can get your DUI charge dismissed. This whole website is filled with DUI information that you need to know, so go ahead and browse around and click the links below for more DUI law information.