DUI Convictions and the Suspended Drivers License

Of all the consequences that come with a DUI conviction, the harshest consequence of all is the drivers license suspension.  If you are convicted of a DUI, your driving privilege will be suspended for at least one year.  This suspension can impact your entire life, and may dramatically change your ability to go to work and go to school.  There are no exceptions.

If you live and work in a place with public transportation, or your work and/or school is close to where you live, this may be a minor inconvenience.  I have had clients who live in rural areas, but who commute to the city for work, and as a result of a suspension, they lose their jobs.

There are ways around the license suspension, but they are fact specific to each case.  For example, on a first time DUI, I have been able to negotiate an alcohol impaired driving charge instead of the full DUI.  Drivers License Division doesn't suspend a license for a first time alcohol impaired driving.  A second alcohol impaired driving, however, will result in a suspension, so if you are lucky enough to dodge a suspension the first time, learn your lesson. 

If you are being charged with a DUI, call me.  I will work hard to protect your driving privileges.

Reputation Management Using Social Media Accounts

Not too long ago, I started doing reputation management for a company that offers a beauty product. The product has been on the market a long time but recently updated to improve its efficacy and value.  Unfortunately the original business owners had never focused on reputation management for their company or this specific product, and the new owners inherited a reputation mess.

After a complete review of the website, page one and two search results, we put together a plan to leverage existing digital assets and build new ones that would serve as an effective way to enhance page one search results.  Primary social assets such as the Scalp Med Facebook Page, Scalp Med Linkedin Account, Twitter, etc. were all optimized for better search engine presence.  This involved reviewing each account, completing profile information, and embedding target keywords.

The second part of the strategy is leveraging citations.  Not a lot of people are familiar with the term but essentially, in addition to focusing on national search, we focused on Local Search.  Google is placing much more emphasis on business listings and local related factors that help verify business information and authority.

By combining both the optimization of existing social media assets as well as citations, we have been able to positively influence page one search results for the client.  However, some negative listings still persist.  In addition to the before-mentioned strategies, we also reached out to select affiliates who have authoritative websites and could rank assets rather quickly that are in support of the brand. This third prong of the strategy is proving effective as they have been able to influence rankings quickly with a positive result.

Some of you may be asking, "What's next?"  If you've created a reputation marketing plan and are now in a better position but still not showing a pristine online reputation, where do you go from here?  And the answer is that you remain persistent and continue to reinforce the assets that are appearing on page one and page two.  Slow and steady wins the race.  By focusing your efforts on a few, very authoritative assets, you can win in the long run, which should be your goal.

If you simple focus on trying to win the reputation game overnight, you'll have a really difficult time improving your online company view.  I like to use the phrase, "pick your square" which means that you need to focus on the digital assets that give you the best chance of showing up organically and pushing down negative results.

Reputation management and improving online search results for assets that reside on other pages (like your Facebook profile) can take time.  Be patient, continue to optimize, build quality inbound links, and you're sure to win!

How Will a DUI Conviction Effect My Record?

  Many of my clients are anxious to know how a DUI will effect them, and for how long. The concern is that a DUI conviction: limits your ability to drive, impact your employment opportunities, effects insurance rates, carries with it a social stigma, gives you a criminal record, and acts as a prior for future DUI's .

 In Utah, a DUI conviction will stay on your record for 10 years. A second DUI within that 10 years period dramatically increases the penalties you face if convicted again, and a third DUI within the 10 year period is a felony, punishable by up to 5 years in the State Prison.

Once ten years have passed, you will be eligible to expunge your DUI conviction, and it will no longer be used as a prior conviction. This ten year waiting period for expungement is the longest for any type of crime in Utah. For example, felonies can be expunged after seven years, and some misdemeanors can be expunged after three years, but any alcohol related driving offense must wait the full ten years.

I have been successful in negotiating with prosecutors to reduce a DUI charge to an alcohol impaired driving charge or even a non-alcohol related reckless driving, under certain circumstances. A reduction to straight reckless driving is not always possible, depending on the fact of the case, but when it happens, it reduces the time the conviction is on a client's record by more than half. A reduction to alcohol impaired driving can help you keep your drivers license, and lessen the impact on your insurance, but it acts as a prior conviction for future DUI charges, and cannot be expunged until after the ten year waiting period.

 If you want to avoid having a DUI on your record for ten years, call me to schedule an appointment. I will review the facts of the case and see what if any negotiations can be done to reduce your conviction. The best advice I have is not to drink and drive.

California DUI Laws

No area of the law has undergone such a significant change over the last 20 years than that of California DUI Law. Indeed, the legislature has tinkered and toyed with various aspects of the criminal drunk driving laws such as sentencing, enhancing sentences through new statutes that impose more severe jail requirements under certain factual circumstances such as speeding, having children in the car and having elevated blood alcohol levels. The state has shortened the time period that a DUI prior can be used in the current case. An increase in the length of DUI schools, adding three additional programs. All of these changes just in the last decade or so. What changes will we see in the coming years? Time will tell.

The Intoxilyzer

In the past, someone arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) used to be given a choice of three tests to verify the amount of alcohol in their system: a blood, breath, or urine test.  Since then, urine tests have been found to be unreliable for concentration amounts.  Blood tests are invasive and involve a needle.  Because of this, a breath test has been the preferred choice by law enforcement and the accused.

To take a breath test, a person blows into a machine, called an intoxilyzer, and the machine figures out how much alcohol is in their blood.  If the result is a .08% blood alcohol content (BAC) or higher, then the person is deemed intoxicated and not safe to operate a vehicle.  A result lower than a .08% infers that the person may be safe to drive, but that can be challenged by the person's driving pattern and other factors.

An intoxilyzer is a machine, and is subject to problems, like any other machine.  Sometimes the results are not accurate, the machine may need calibration, and there is an expected variation in results.  Also, the operator must be trained and certified, and needs to keep the certification current.  There are also rules governing an observation period prior to administering the test to make sure that there is no alcohol in the test subjects mouth from burping or regurgitation that could effect the validity of the test.

If you have been arrested for DUI, and had to take a breath test, this fact will be explored in both the Drivers License Hearing and the prosecution of the criminal DUI charges.  I have successfully represented clients in challenging the validity of the intoxilyzer test results based on the problems with the technology, the failure of  a police officer to follow the mandatory protocols, and the failure of the officer to keep his certification current.  As a result, I have been able to help my client's keep their drivers licenses, and avoid criminal convictions.

Successful Affiliate Marketers' Best Tips And Tricks

Has someone ever told you to go into a place of business and tell them that they sent you? Well, if you have, you are already familiar with affiliate marketing. Though word of mouth is important, there are other web marketing campaigns that you can use to help your business and this article provides you with the tips you need to make it happen.

If your program is proving to be profitable, you should not hesitate to inquire about making more money for the work that you do. If you have made yourself valuable to the program through the amount of sales you are generating, they will want to do anything in their power to keep you.

An efficient blog or website is going to create far more affiliate traffic than almost anything else you can do. Be sure that your site is always streamlined and easy to use. A complicated site stuffed with junk content is going to immediately turn traffic away. So, make sure the site is clean and easy to navigate.

If you try one affiliate program and do not see the results that you were hoping for, do not hesitate to try another. Check into the affiliate program you are using to see if they offer any other products, services or payment structures. Some programs offer flexible plans so do your homework and find the one that fits best.

Even though this is the Internet, remember that the customer is always right. You do not want to lose customers because you are being too solid on your stance against someone you feel is incorrect. People talk and that can result in a serious loss in profits for the business.

Blogs are a great way to make money. If you do it right, internet marketing can really pay off. Blogs are a great way to give details about a company's products. A company may not have room on their website catalog to give you the information you need. Giving first hand usage information can pay off.

Some vendors want you to make use of their tracking software, which are generally scams. Avoid any trouble by using a respected, professional tracking system.

Keep track of your affiliate program results. Successful affiliate sales come from watching what works and what doesn't. Most affiliate programs include some type of tracking function that helps you see which links are working well and which ones need to be tweaked. Vary page positions, see what products sell where, which wording helps links perform better, and use it to plan your future affiliate program strategies.

If you are interested in getting involved in web marketing it is extremely important that you educate yourself on the subject. Search out all the pertinent information that you can find. Learn the basic principles of programming, HTML, data feed manipulation, and creating custom links. The more knowledge that you have, the better off you will be.

We are all familiar with the concept of affiliate marketing, we just may not understand its formulation. Hopefully, this article has provided you with the basics you need to start your affiliate promotion campaign in as formal or informal a manner as you might like. By following the tips from this article, you are helping to ensure the success of your program.

Public Defender vs. Private Attorney

Should I hire a private lawyer or just go with a public defender?  What's the difference between the two?  What advantage would a private attorney give me over a public defender?   These are important questions to ask yourself when charged with a crime.  Naturally you would want the best representation possible.  But is it worth paying thousands of dollars to a private attorney when a public defender is free?

To begin with, let's define the two.  In Utah, counties and cities open a bidding process to fill the position of Public Defender.  Bids come in from various attorneys with different levels of experience and expertise.  The Public Defender contract is usually given to the lowest bid, sometimes with no regard for experience.  Once the public defender is selected he or she is inundated with cases, appointed by the court, for defendants who qualify for free representation.  The case load is always very large, and very limited of time is given to each case because of the volume of cases.

Public defenders work with the city and county prosecutors to resolve each case as quickly as possible.  Because of the huge demand on the public defenders, defendants do not always get the best representation or defense in their cases.  I have heard many defendants upset and frustrated that their public defender has no time to return phone calls, refuse to prepare a suppression  motion, do a preliminary hearing, or take their case to trial, because they don' have the time.

A Private Attorney is a lawyer who is hired by a defendant to represent them in court.  Private attorney's have much small case loads, thus they have more time to work on a case, interview witnesses, investigate and meet with the client, even return phone calls.

Hiring a private attorney allows you to shop around, get referrals, research which lawyer has experience in criminal law, and which one is a general attorney, knowing a little bit about a lot of different areas.  Most private attorneys will allow you to come into their office for a free initial consultation.  This way, you can find out how experienced the attorney is, his or her feelings about your case, and the fee you would be charged.

The saying "You get what you pay for" is often very true when hiring an attorney.  The more experience, the better the representation and defense.  If you are charged with a crime, give me a call.  You don't want to chance your future with anyone else.