Pinellas County Florida Criminal Lawyer Blog

The next time you are considering driving after a few drinks, ask yourself if you have $10,000 to spare.  DUI's in Florida are EXPENSIVE. 

First there are court costs, which have gone up significantly in the past few years.  Then there are costs of probation, cost of DUI school, cost to have your driver's license reinstated (click here for DHSMV reinstatements), cost of the ignition interlock control device (click here for pricing), cost to maintain the device, cost to get to work because your driver's license is suspened, increased insurance premiums, costs of alcohol treatment and evaluation.  Notice I didn't include cost of an attorney.  My husband, Daniel Pawuk, who has significant DUI trial experience starts at about $2000.

Here's something to think about, I got this ad from a former client who now owns a cab service:  

In an article yesterday from the St. Petersburg Times, it seems that St. Petersburg mayoral candidate Deveron Gibbon's does have a clean driving record.  The paper printed it wrong in an article from Sunday's paper. 

I personally have my own issues with the Times and their lack of fact checking as well as their one sided approach to journalism.  But the July 8, 2009 article brings up a good point:  Driving records recieved from either the Clerk of Court, or the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles are often incorrect or misleading.  Which causes problems for people when they apply for jobs, get background checks, or ultimately have their licenses suspended based on incorrect information. 

What should you do about it?  Check your driver's license regularly at the DHSMV website and if you think the information is wrong, call us.  We can't guarentee we can fix it, but our motto is:  "the fix it firm."