Sometimes you just have to trust in a voice. I did. And it made all the difference.
A few days after I was arrested for my second DUI this past January, I flipped open the Yellow Pages to a section I wouldn’t wish on my most loathsome enemy- law firms touting their DUI expertise. The whole process of calling strangers and recounting the details of an event still agonizingly fresh in my memory can be frustrating and demeaning. Not to mention downright frightening, once you hear the sanctions you’re facing as a repeat offender- as much as a year behind bars in some cases. Jail time, they all confirmed, was most likely a forgone conclusion.
So, who was I to choose? Nobody was promising me community service, house arrest or a papal dispensation. Even those guys with the ubiquitous slogan didn’t seem all that friendly. The answer came from my gut, or more precisely, my ear.
I called Wallin and Klarich and spoke to an experienced attorney. I must admit, I found the tone of her voice utterly reassuring. It possessed a certain calm precision no doubt honed from hours in the courtroom. But there was something else. An immediacy. An accessibility. True sincerity. Without making and promises, she won me over at once. And I couldn’t help thinking that this is the person I want talking on my behalf to the district attorneys.
When we met in person, my aural hunch proved true. She was the real deal. As my case moved forward, she was always on top of things, quick to return my calls and decisive when a continuance was needed to keep me away from a particularly severe judge. In the final analysis, her relationships with attorneys in the D.A.’s Office helped cut my jail time by more than half. Something I’m ecstatic about every morning I wake up in my own bed.
Facing a second DUI is something I wish on nobody. But should you find yourself in that harrowing predicament, it sure helps to have a strong voice helping you through.
-J. P.
Erstwhile TV Writer
