Do I need a DUI lawyer for a first-offense DUI on the Eastside?

For a Washington DUI, the answer in almost every case is yes. A first-offense DUI conviction carries mandatory jail time, a mandatory license suspension, mandatory ignition interlock installation, a five-year probation period, and a permanent criminal record that cannot be expunged under current law. On the Eastside, the three courts that hear DUI cases each operate differently, and the prosecutor assigned to each court negotiates under a different set of constraints. An attorney who appears regularly in Issaquah Municipal Court, Mercer Island Municipal Court, and King County District Court East Division understands where the leverage points are in each forum and what outcomes are realistic given the facts of a specific case.