Dear Client:

Thank you for selecting our Atlanta law firm to represent you in your legal matter.

Being charged with a crime or DUI is a frustrating, nerve-racking and sometimes intimidating event. You, my staff, and I, your attorney, will be working as a team to present the strongest possible case for you, and to bring about a speedy and just resolution of your DUI case. Over the next several weeks and months a great deal of time and effort on your part and ours will be necessary to ensure these goals are met. The more we can work together the better we will be able to bring about the results to which you are entitled and desire.

PROACTIVE VS. REACTIVE

As your Atlanta attorney, I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to be proactive rather than reactive. Because this is our case, we have the personal incentive in fighting for just results. We must work together and stay focused. In every case, there are certain things that can be done in order to minimize our criminal liability. Our Atlanta firm will provide you with a detailed description of certain things that can be done in order to be proactive – please adhere to them.

PERSONAL DIARY

We strongly urge you to keep a personal diary. Please do everything possible to remember any facts and details about your case and the issues regarding your case. Keep track of any conversations you had with anyone regarding it, any statements you may have given to anyone about it, and any documents you have which may be relevant. It is important that your Atlanta attorney has the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all witnesses who could testify on your behalf about the facts pertaining to your case, when, how, and why it occurred. It also is important that your Atlanta attorney know of any witnesses who would be likely to testify against you. We need all of these facts to evaluate the case fully, and to prepare it for eventual settlement or trial.

It is also important that all of the information that we require be updated on a regular basis. You should send us copies of your diary and other information at least monthly. The diary will help us prepare for your possible pretrial motions and help you get ready to testify at your trial. And the diary will help you be as specific as possible about the facts of your Atlanta case.

OPEN EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION

The Attorney-Client Privilege and Attorney Work Product Doctrine are strongly rooted tenants of the law and legal profession which our Atlanta firm takes very seriously. As such, you may feel comfortable knowing that your communications with your Atlanta attorney are and will remain confidential. With that said, we may need to know some personal things about you, which you may consider private or irrelevant to your case. These can include your relations with your spouse, your children, and even some personal information concerning your past, such as your driving record, criminal problems you may have had, or other experiences of yours which may bear on issues raised in the case. Our purpose is not to invade your privacy, to insult you, or to embarrass you in any way. Rather, our purpose is to prepare you thoroughly for trial. If there are any difficulties with your case, your Atlanta attorney needs to know about them to be prepared.

You must be frank and candid with your Atlanta attorney about any problems you may have had with the police, the courts, or with any other person. Furthermore, if you have had health problems that may bear on the case, or if you have been involved in cases of a similar nature, it is crucial that we have this information now. Be assured that the opposing party will obtain this information and will try to use it against you. You cannot avoid any of these problems by not discussing them. They will surface. Your Atlanta attorney must know about them now, so that he can evaluate them and limit the impacts they will have at your hearing.

Under our State’s rules of criminal procedure, we have the right to opt into conducting discovery. Thus, we will become aware of the State’s witnesses, and likewise, they will become aware of ours. Similarly, our Atlanta attorneys will receive copies of police reports, scientific reports, audio and video recordings in your case. Once these items are received by our office, you should make time, prior to trial or settlement, to review these items.

As I, your Atlanta attorney have described, a great deal of mutual effort will be necessary to ensure that we can conduct a well-prepared and well-informed presentation of your Atlanta case, and that we move toward a fair resolution of it in the most cost effective way. Following these suggestions, and keeping the records requested, will go a long way toward a successful and speedy resolution of your case.

Sincerely,W. Scott Smith