Oakland Driver’s License Reinstatement Lawyer

How to Avoid a Driver's License Suspension After a DUI Arrest in Alameda County

If you are arrested for DUI in Oakland, the officer will take your California driver's license and give you a notification informing you that your license will be suspended by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) 30 days after the date of your arrest. The administrative license suspension procedure is handled independently of your criminal case. If you are a resident of another state, the DMV will suspend your California driving privileges after 30 days, and it will notify your home state's DMV, which is likely to result in additional legal consequences that will affect your driver's license.

Being convicted of DUI may have a significant impact on your life, particularly if you will unable to drive due to a license suspension. You may count on having a valid driver's license you so can get to and from work or school, transport your children to school or daycare, and fulfill other important obligations. If you are a commercial license holder, the loss of your license might result in the loss of your job.

You may be able to keep your driver's license after a drunk driving arrest in Alameda County, but it is probably not going to be easy. The initial step you should take is to request an administrative hearing with the DMV where you can challenge the suspension of your license. You have only 10 days after the date you received the notice of license suspension to request your hearing. This hearing may be the only chance you will have to prevent the license suspension from going into effect. You also need help from an attorney who has a proven record of success when representing clients in license suspension hearings.

Administrative License Suspension Proceedings in Oakland

The California DMV's administrative suspension of your driver's license will be handled separately from the criminal DUI case against you in Alameda County Superior Court. The license suspension will take effect 30 days after the notification is delivered to you. The circumstances of the situation will determine the appropriate amount of time that your driver's license may be suspended.

If this is your first DUI offense, the license suspension period will generally be four months. However, if you have been convicted of multiple DUI charges, the suspension or revocation period could last as long as three years. Moreover, California has an "Implied Consent" law where refusing to take a chemical blood alcohol test after your arrest can result in an automatic one-year suspension for a first offense, a two-year suspension for a second offense, and a three-year suspension for a third offense.

If you request an administrative hearing at the DMV in Oakland, your suspension will be delayed until your hearing date. This buys you time to try to resolve your criminal case favorably. At the DMV hearing, you must show that the police officer did not have legal grounds for arresting or detaining you on suspicion of DUI. Possible reasons why such action might have been unlawful include:

• You were not the person who was driving a vehicle at the time of the traffic stop;
• The officer did not have a reasonable cause to stop you;
• Your arrest was unlawful; or
• Your BAC level was under the legal limit of .08, or .01 if you are a minor.

Contact an Oakland License Reinstatement Attorney

For over three decades, Paul Burglin has been assisting clients throughout the Bay Area who are facing driver's license suspensions and other legal penalties for DUI. Out of all of the lawyers in the state of California, only five have been Board-Certified by The National College of DUI Defense, and Mr. Burglin is one of them. He has a long history of successfully disputing DMV license suspensions. When somebody close to a DMV hearing officer is accused of DUI, the officers often seek out Mr. Burglin to provide representation because of his in-depth knowledge of the law and successful track record.

If you have been arrested for drunk driving and need legal assistance, contact our office immediately at 510-250-5629 for a confidential and discreet consultation. We provide legal help to clients facing DUI charges in Oakland and Alameda County.