Do lawyers enable the alcoholic? dui case
 

Had a family member who has been a heavy drinker for decades among other things get stopped for driving drunk. No accident involved just "careless" driving.

I'm all for a legitimate legal defense but according to the "client" the lawyers told him anything from don't worry v i ps & celebrities get popped for the occassional dui or you just drank a little too much one time. The lawyers even told him there will be mandatory classes where they'll try to make you seem like an alcoholic. He was scared and depressed following his arrest but now after a few sessions with the lawyers he can't wait to drink again. Don't know how truefull he was about his daily consumption or other things.

But should a lawyer down play alcoholism classes? Is it normal? To me there is a difference between trying to get your client the best deal and dissuading your client from a class that might help them. Again a charged person should be allowed the best defense possible including an attack dog lawyer but should lawyers dealing with pretty obvious substance abuse cases be down playing or steering their clients away from things that might actually help even if just plants the seed of there being a problem?

I see lawyers as business professionals. As business professionals, they are interested in turning a profit.

Which lawyer do you think will make more money: One who tells his client what he wants to hear and makes him feel better about his *mistake*
OR
A lawyer who brow beats his client and tells him how careless, reckless and ashamed he should be?

Which lawyer will the client call if he happens to make another *mistake* involving alcohol?

The lawyer is getting paid to minimize consequences. The better they are at that, the more money they will get paid.

oh boy this is a tuffie.
i get where this upsets you....it would surely upset me.
If the lawyer thinks that the judge will be more prone to him seeking recovery the lawyer will insist he does so or prepare him for such but this depends upon lawyer case hsitory etc
if the lawyer thinks he can downplay it to the judge he will do so once again depends
and if the lawyer isnt aware of alcoholism fully he will downplay it just like if the lawyer
thinks your husband is not an alcoholic he will downplayu it.
its a game of chess...hes a lawyer not a doctor.
i completely understand your frustrations to this...i picked a lawyer for my ah not only specialized in dui cases but who also specialized in seeking treatment for alcoholics in court ...who is aware of alcoholism....but that fact still remains that she is going to best represent my ah by trying to down play it in court. thats what they do. their job is to get it lowered and lower it in general for the best deffense.

See Bill Shakespeare's commentary.

...Lawyer's will vigorously defend the client until the client is proven bankrupt beyond a reasonable doubt, period. Just cuz they call each other 'counselor', don't get confused ;-)

My STBXAW's first DUI involved a very serious accident where she was hospitalized for about a month. She hit a tree dead center at about 50 mph, the seat belt tore her open across the waist rupturing her intestines. Her lawyer suggested that because of this it let the alcohol go straight into her blood stream & that's why she had a BAC of .38. She then had the perfect alibi, she didn't have a problem, it was that damn seat belt! Of course she said she only had 2 or 3 glasses of wine (it's always only 2 or 3 isn't it!) so the lawyer was dumbfounded as to why her BAC was so high, thus the seat belt theory. It seemed like BS to me, but at that point I was still pretty well rooted in my own denial & it was my job to "support" her so I just went along. That was about 4 or 5 years ago.

A few weeks ago she got another DUI, the weekend she moved out of the house no less, with a BAC of .24. She has the same lawyer, wonder if he'll have any theories this time? At least she'll be forced into treatment. I hope she accepts the help & doesn't just go through the motions. This time I'm not in denial & I am not there to "support" her. I hope this is the best thing that ever happened to her.

She accepted the lawyers enabling, she held onto it as if was the most precious thing in the world. I can't really fault the lawyer, it's not his job to make her get help. That being said, it didn't help her & at best it gave her 5 more alcoholic years where she lost her marriage, a few jobs, her dream house, countless friends & her health. But maybe that's what she needed to get help, at least that is my hope. It's not mine to figure out, it's hers alone.

Ohboy I see the frustration. The problem one simply sees their latest problem or arrest as an obstacle to be cleared in their path of destruction. The lawyer told the problem one that drinking from his open container in the car shortly before he got stopped contributed to his above the legal limit test. Although he is always trying to rationalize and minimize his actions so the lawyer might have actually lectured him about the open container.

Although I think many a client exploit the lawyers work you would figure with client confidentiality the lawyers would advise them off the record start attending AA meetings or read this off the record etc. If nothing else they could always tell a judge my client has been in AA or rehab on their own.


Hellooo, 1/2 century old man drinking from an open container in a car like a teenager a victim of circumstance???

My only thing is that with lawyer-client confidentiality is that they could recommend things like AA or counseling off the record on their own. If nothing else they could tell a judge they took initative to correct and prevent this from happening again. I guess the lawyers get cynical when they see all the money & people involved in a dui case.

I have sat with Attorneys that have gotten their clients into rehab, and helped with families, and negotiated settlements that included conditions of sobriety and restitution.

There are many that look at DUIs as just another criminal act. As defense attorneys, their job is to do everything legally possible to defend the client.
With an addict, this unfortunately is the ultimate example of enabling.

I really don't think its the attorneys responsibility, though. They are simply doing their job. It might actually be more codependent for them to worry about their clients substance issues. At the end of the day, its not really their business.

Unfortunately it is just part of the legal system. But it is up to the accussed to get help for a problem if they need it.

My boyfriend (M) is currently in a legal battle for full custody of his daughter. (I am not going into detail about the case, but I will say that he has no intention to keep her from her mother, he's trying to protect her from her mother's highly inappropriate decisions regarding overnight sleeping arrangements.)

M's ex's attorney has told her that now that her boyfriend bought the gun cabinet for his extensive formerly-unlocked gun collection, that my M doesn't have a case, so she doesn't have to change any of her behavior.

That was what they wanted to hear, so her boyfriend has paid the attorney his set-price up-front fee for the custody battle. Now it doesn't matter whether this lawyer wins the case or not - he got his money.
He's not charging a large legal fee, he's not being paid enough to dig into her past and figure out what they can use against M and what M could use against them... He's relying upon the honesty of his client to determine the course he'll take for the case, in the hope that she cares enough about the case to tell the truth and do some legwork and lead him in the right direction.

If she doesn't tell her lawyer the truth... Well, then the defense her lawyer uses will not be based on the truth. It's as simple as that.