In a frank and personal manner we will explain exactly what you can expect. We will leave no stone unturned to win your case. We are extremely aggressive and have an extraordinarily high rate of cases reduced to a non-drinking offense. Whether it's your 1^st OWI, 2^nd OWI or Felony 3^rd offense, choose the firm that lawyers and judges respect. Evening and weekend appointments. STAY OUT OF JAIL. KEEP DRIVING. GET YOUR LIFE BACK TO NORMAL!

Utilizing over 23 years of experience, service and success to provide a full range of first-rate legal services to those charged with drunk driving-related offenses within the following areas:

• DRUNK DRIVING
• DRIVING UNDER INFLUENCE OF DRUGS
• DUI/OWI
• VEHICLE CODE VIOLATIONS
• OWI RESULTING IN DEATH/SERIOUS INJURY 

• HIT AND RUN
• DRIVING WITH SUSPENDED LICENSE
• DRIVER'S LICENSE REVOCATION
• OTHER TRAFFIC CRIMES

• SECRETARY OF STATE LICENSING HEARINGS
• RECKLESS DRIVING

Being arrested and accused of a DUI/OWI is a terribly stressful event. It can bring humiliation on the roadside, at the police precinct and in the courtroom. Without a driver's license, some people could lose their jobs. The threat of jail or a prison sentence raises concerns about personal safety, and conviction for crimes such as DUI/OWI can create a permanent criminal record that follows a person for the rest of his or her life.

Gregory J. Boulahanis has seen many people who have been wrongly accused, and he knows that good people sometimes make mistakes. He understands how overwhelming the potential penalties for drunk driving may seem when you are first charged with a DUI/OWI.

When Gregory J. Boulahanis takes a case, he always invests the time to fully understand his client's goals and interests so that he can lead the client through the maze of the Michigan criminal courts to a successful resolution. Sometimes that means winning a Not Guilty verdict from a jury; at other times it could involve a plea to a lesser charge. In some cases, his expert negotiations outside the courtroom have led prosecutors to drop DUI/OWI charges altogether.

Whatever the course of your case, Attorney Gregory J. Boulahanis will make sure that you are informed and in control of all the decisions made in your case.

Remember, if you are stopped for drunk driving….

DO:

• Have your driver's license, registration, and insurance card ready for police
• Submit to a pat down search, handcuffing and arrest
• Ask for a lawyer
• Be polite, but…

DO NOT:

• Answer police questions
• Volunteer information or engage in small talk
• Lie
• Do balance tests
• Consent to police searching your car
• Sign anything

If you are arrested for drunk driving….

DO:

• Ask for a lawyer again
• Give breath samples
• Submit to fingerprinting
• Go to a hospital or doctor as soon as you are released
• Insist that the hospital test your blood for ethanol
• Hire a competent lawyer on the next business day

DO NOT:

• Answer police questions
• Volunteer information or engage in small talk
• Do balance tests
• Consent to blood tests
• Sign anything

IF YOU RETAIN GREGORY J. BOULAHANIS, YOU CAN EXPECT THE FOLLOWING:

• Meet and discuss your case with you at no charge
• Provide you with a fee quote based upon services required
• Remain available for your questions and comments
• Be accessible by office telephone, cell phone and/or email 24 hours a day
• Clearly explain your options and alternatives as your case progresses
• Provide the best possible analysis of any contemplated plea bargain disposition
• Prepare fully and zealously represent your interests at Trial (if necessary)

TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS:

If you or a loved one in Michigan needs assistance of an experienced DUI/OWI lawyer, please call Gregory J. Boulahanis of Boulahanis & Associates, P.C. at 866-283-3407, or complete the contact form provided on this site to schedule your free consultation.

Practice Areas and Legal Definitions

Driving with a Suspended License:
Driving with a suspended or revoked license is usually charged as a serious misdemeanor punishable by substantial fines and up to a year in jail. Under some circumstances, as where someone is killed or injured in an accident caused by a driver whose license is suspended or revoked, the offense can be charged as a felony, with a high fine and a possible state prison sentence. Fines and jail sentences are typically heaviest in cases where the license suspension or revocation resulted from a traffic offense involving alcohol and/or drugs.

Driving with a suspended or revoked license is usually charged as a serious misdemeanor punishable by substantial fines and up to a year in jail. Under some circumstances, as where someone is killed or injured in an accident caused by a driver whose license is suspended or revoked, the offense can be charged as a felony, with a high fine and a possible state prison sentence. Fines and jail sentences are typically heaviest in cases where the license suspension or revocation resulted from a traffic offense involving alcohol and/or drugs.

Reckless Driving:
Reckless driving is operating a vehicle with willful or wanton disregard for the safety of others or the property of others. It generally involves drastic misconduct on the road, such as driving on the wrong side of the road or driving at dangerously high speeds. It is generally charged as a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine and a local jail sentence. It sometimes results in a driver's license suspension or revocation, and it very often results in the cancellation of insurance. Automobile insurance companies know that people who drive “recklessly” are more likely than others to get in traffic accidents. Also, “reckless driving” convictions are commonly seen as part of a plea bargain in which an initial DUI or DWI charge is “reduced” to reckless driving.

Hit and Run Driving:
Hit and Run Driving is a serious offense that involves leaving the scene of an accident without first stopping and identifying oneself to the other driver or drivers. It is, at minimum, a serious misdemeanor punishable by jail time and a high fine. If someone is injured or killed in the accident, hit and run driving is charged as a felony that can result in a state prison sentence. In either case the charge has nothing to do with who was at fault in the accident. Apart from the other penalties, hit and run driving can result in long-term driver's license suspension or, in some cases, actual license revocation.

Contests of Speed (Drag Racing):
In most states, engaging in contests of speed (racing) is a serious misdemeanor punishable by local jail time and a fine. It can also trigger license suspension or revocation by the Department of Motor Vehicles or other state licensing agency. It is also fairly certain to result in cancellation of automobile insurance. Repeat offenders usually face escalating penalties including felony prosecution in aggravated circumstances.

Other Traffic Crimes:
Every state has its own set of laws governing the operation of motor vehicles on public streets and highways. Most of these laws classify violations as infractions - relatively minor offenses for which a fine is the only penalty. One cannot be given a jail sentence for an infraction. It can be very important to fight infraction prosecutions in some situations. Many states have “point” systems to track individual driving records and the accumulation of too many points can have serious consequences, ranging from license suspension to revocation. Automobile insurance carriers often cancel the policies of drivers with too many “points.” The decision whether or not to fight an infraction ticket is one that should receive very careful consideration.

Administrative License Suspension Hearings:
Most states provide for administrative driver's license suspension in certain circumstances, but in every case the driver is entitled to a hearing in which the suspension can be contested. If a hearing is not requested within the time provided by law the right to a hearing is waived, and the suspension goes into effect automatically. In some cases the time for requesting a hearing is very short, and the scope of the hearing is usually very narrow and highly technical, from a legal standpoint. Self-representation at a suspension hearing is rarely successful. The different types of administrative suspension include:

• Medical/Drug Suspension
  Some medical conditions require administrative driver's license suspension. These include certain diseases involving seizures, blackouts, fainting spells, serious physical coordination problems, some mental disorders and loss of vision. The defense to this type of suspension usually involves the submission of written reports from health care providers and other experts.
• Negligent Driver Suspension
  This involves situations in which a driver has accumulated too many “points” for traffic tickets or has been involved in an unusually high number of accidents.
• Drunk Driving Suspension Based on BAC
  If a defendant’s chemical test shows a BAC of .08% or more most states impose a 30 to 90 day suspension. This varies from state to state and may be longer than that. At the hearing, skilled counsel may attack the probable cause for the defendant’s detention and arrest and/or the validity of the chemical test.
• Drunk Driving Suspension Based on Test Refusal
  Where the defendant refuses to submit to a chemical test most states provide for a license suspension ranging from six months to a year, but in at least one state the term is three years. The refusal suspension is not affected by the outcome of a DUI/DWI trial. If there is a refusal suspension it remains in place even if the defendant is adjudged “not guilty.” At the hearing, skilled counsel may attack the probable cause for the defendant’s detention and arrest and/or the validity of the chemical test.

Operating While Intoxicated (OWI):
OWI stands for Operating While Intoxicated and occurs when someone is operating, or is in actual physical control, of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or other controlled substance, to the extent that their mental faculties are impaired and/or their blood alcohol content (BAC) is above the legal limit. Even for a first offense, penalties can include license suspension, substantial fines, community service, mandatory attendance at a state or DMV approved alcohol program, mandatory overnight incarceration and the required installation (at the offender's expense) of a car ignition locking device. In addition, it typically results in higher insurance premiums and an offender may become ineligible for credit.

Operating While Intoxicated from Drugs or Prescription Medications:
Most people know that it is illegal to operate a vehicle while intoxicated from illegal drugs, but many people believe they can avoid a conviction for OWI by producing a prescription for the drug in question. This is not true.  An OWI (drugs) charge has nothing to do with whether or not possession of  the drug was lawful. The legal issue in any OWI (drugs) case is whether, as the result of "impairment" from drug intoxication, the driver has lost the ability to drive safely. It is just as unlawful to operate a vehicle while intoxicated from properly prescribed medication as it is to operate a vehicle while intoxicated from drinking too much alcohol.

Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) with prior convictions:
In all 50 states, repeat OWI offenders face progressively stiffer penalties. In some states, the third or fourth offense may be charged as a felony and, upon a conviction, result in a multi-year state prison term. The elements of the offense are the same, whether or not there are prior convictions.

Operating While Intoxicated – Manslaughter:
Manslaughter is the criminal charge for unlawfully killing someone without actually intending to do so. When someone operates a vehicle while intoxicated and causes an accident in which someone is killed, the driver may be charged with manslaughter.

Operating While Intoxicated – Murder:
Murder is the criminal charge for unlawfully killing someone, either deliberately and intentionally or recklessly with extreme disregard for human life. In some states, when someone is operating a vehicle while intoxicated and causes an accident in which someone is killed the driver may be charged with murder if the circumstances are particularly aggravated.

If you or someone you know has been arrested and charged with drunk driving, and you need the aggressive representation of an experienced Michigan Drunk Driving Attorney, call Boulahanis & Associates today at 866-283-3407, or use the contact form provided on this site to schedule your free phone consultation.