Members of regulated professions who get arrested for DWI can experience problems with licensing boards.   If you are a member of a regulated profession (doctor, lawyer, engineer, accountant, dentist, pharmacist, real estate broker, nurse, airline pilot, etc.), it is especially important to hire a lawyer that can maximize your chances of a dismissal or acquittal.  The stakes for you are much higher because your professional career can be placed in jeopardy by a conviction, and sometimes even by an arrest.

Most licensing boards have similar rules about criminal convictions:  No convictions for felonies or crimes involving moral turpitude.  Since a DWI can be a misdemeanor or a felony, that can be kind of tricky.  A DWI arrest can also trigger an inquiry into the issue of substance abuse.  The substance abuse issue is especially sensitive for members of health care professions such as medicine, nursing and pharmacy.  If you are an airline pilot, an arrest can end your career—even if you don’t get convicted.

If you have a professional license and get arrested for DWI, you need to call a lawyer immediately.  There may be self-reporting issues that need to be addressed.   We believe that hiring a firm like ours is the best protection you can have for your professional license.