This page was written, edited, reviewed & approved by Brian LaVine following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. Brian LaVine the Founding Partner, 10+ years of legal experience as criminal defense attorney.
Key Takeaways
The right DWI lawyer in Houston is the one whose credentials you can verify and whose plan for your license you can hear on the first phone call. Advertising will not tell you either of those things. A driving while intoxicated (DWI) arrest sets two separate cases in motion, and most people spend that first week focused on the wrong one while the license deadline runs out.
The eight questions that follow separate a practice built around these cases from a practice built around volume. At LaVine Law Firm, we would rather you ask them of us than skip them, and our team can walk you through where your case actually stands.
You do not need to master Chapter 49 of the Penal Code to hire well. You do need to know enough to recognize a lawyer who is current.
Under Texas Penal Code § 49.04, a person commits an offense by being intoxicated while operating a motor vehicle in a public place. Section 49.01 defines intoxicated in two separate ways: losing the normal use of mental or physical faculties, or registering an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or higher.
That second definition matters during an interview. A test result under 0.08 does not end the matter, because the State can still argue lost faculties from the officer's observations. Ask how a lawyer would meet both theories.
A standard first offense is a Class B misdemeanor carrying a minimum term of confinement of 72 hours in county jail. An open container of alcohol in your immediate possession raises that minimum to six days, and a result of 0.15 or higher makes the offense a Class A misdemeanor.
Senate Bill 826 added a new subsection to Section 49.04 for offenses committed on or after September 1, 2025. Driving while intoxicated in a school crossing zone, during the hours the reduced speed limit applies, is now a state jail felony under the enhanced penalties the Legislature adopted.
No prior conviction is required. Nobody has to be injured. Location alone converts what would have been a misdemeanor into a felony carrying 180 days to two years in a state jail facility.
Ask any lawyer you interview about this provision. A practitioner who has not adjusted to it is working from an outdated map.
The Texas Department of Public Safety can suspend your license through Administrative License Revocation, a civil process independent of the criminal charge. You have 15 days from the date notice is served to request a hearing, and the suspension takes effect on the 40th day if no request arrives.
Those hearings are conducted by the State Office of Administrative Hearings before an administrative law judge. Nothing about your criminal case pauses that deadline.
Criminal practice is local even where the statute is uniform. The same charge produces different plea postures, different docket rhythms, and different expectations from one courthouse to the next.
A lawyer who appears in these courts weekly knows which prosecutors respond to a written motion and which want to watch the video first. That knowledge shapes timing decisions you will never see itemized on an invoice.
Ask how many driving while intoxicated cases the lawyer handled locally in the past year, and in which courts. Vague responses to specific questions are themselves answers.
Every firm describes itself as experienced. Certification and licensing records are the parts you can check without taking anyone's word for it.
The Texas Board of Legal Specialization certifies lawyers who have practiced at least five years and spent three of those years substantially within the specialty. Applicants must also complete at least 60 hours of continuing legal education and pass an examination. Of roughly 120,000 lawyers licensed in Texas, about 6,650 hold board certification, and each must reapply every five years.
Certification is not the only marker of a capable defense attorney, and plenty of strong lawyers never pursue it. It is simply the marker that someone else has already tested.
Before you sign anything, spend a few minutes with the records the State Bar of Texas makes public:
Two minutes of verification can spare you a year of frustration.
The 15-day request window is the cleanest test of whether a lawyer is paying attention to your situation. It closes before most people have finished processing the arrest itself.
An attorney focused on your case will bring up the hearing without prompting. If you have to introduce the subject, make a note of that.
Useful follow-up questions include who files the request, whether representation at the hearing sits inside the quoted price, and whether the lawyer personally appears. The hearing can also produce sworn testimony from the arresting officer, which sometimes shapes the criminal case that follows.
Many firms market through a single recognizable name. The person who answers your questions may not be the person standing beside you at the docket call.
This is not automatically a problem. Associates handle serious cases capably, and a well-run team shares case information carefully.
It becomes a problem when nobody tells you. Ask for the name of the attorney assigned to your matter, and ask what happens when that person has a conflicting setting.
If you want a direct read on which deadlines are already running in your case, call LaVine Law Firm at 713-965-7305 for a free case evaluation. We will tell you what the calendar looks like before you decide anything else.
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Comparing prices between defense lawyers is difficult because two quotes rarely cover the same work. One number may stop at a negotiated plea while another carries through a jury verdict.
A written agreement removes that ambiguity. It also gives you something concrete to point at if expectations diverge later.
Ask the lawyer to put several specific items in writing before any money changes hands:
That fifth item carries more weight than most people expect. Texas Transportation Code Section 709.001 adds a state traffic fine on a final conviction. The amount is $3,000 for a first conviction within a 36-month period, $4,500 for a second, and $6,000 when an alcohol concentration of 0.15 or higher is shown.
All of it sits on top of the fine for the offense itself. Any quote that ignores this number is understating what the case will cost you.
Confidence is reasonable. A promise is not, and the ethics rules governing Texas lawyers say so plainly.
Under Rule 7.01 of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, a communication about legal services is misleading when it is substantially likely to create unjustified expectations about the results a lawyer can achieve. Anyone offering certainty about a dismissal is telling you something useful about their judgment.
What you should expect instead is a candid read on the evidence. That sounds like an assessment of the stop, the testing, and a realistic range of outcomes, with the weak parts of your case named out loud.
Chemical testing carries most of these cases, and it is technical work. Instrument maintenance records, operator certification, sample handling, and laboratory procedure each create avenues a defense can examine.
You do not need to understand the underlying science to evaluate the answer you get. Ask what the lawyer requests from the State, and how quickly after being retained.
A specific reply points to a practice built around this charge. A general reply about fighting hard points to something else.
An intake call is a screening tool rather than a legal opinion. The person collecting your information may not be an attorney at all.
Ask to speak with the lawyer who would handle your case before money changes hands. Bring your paperwork, including any notice of suspension you received, and watch whether the conversation becomes specific.
You are choosing someone to stand between you and the State for the next several months. That decision deserves an actual conversation.
As soon as you reasonably can, because the license hearing request must reach the Department of Public Safety within 15 days of notice. Waiting narrows what any attorney can do for you.
No, and many capable defense attorneys are not certified. Treat it as a credential that has been independently verified rather than a requirement.
Yes, you may retain new counsel at any point in the case. Your original fee agreement governs what portion of the money paid is refundable.
What matters is regular practice in the courts handling your case, not the address on the letterhead. Ask about recent court appearances instead of office location.
Bring your bond paperwork, any charging document or citation, and the notice of license suspension. Photographs and witness contact information help as well.
Criminal charges can change your life—Get the defense you deserve.
The 15-day license deadline is the reason this decision cannot wait for a quiet weekend to think it over. Most people who call us have already spent several of those days waiting to feel ready.
At LaVine Law Firm, Brian LaVine, Phil Stephenson, and Paul Meawad defend drivers facing charges under Chapter 49 of the Texas Penal Code. Our attorneys review the traffic stop, the testing process, the officer's report, and any available recordings, then explain what your realistic options look like. You will get an honest assessment rather than a prediction.
We welcome the questions on this list because a client who asks them is a client who understands the case. If the answers you are hearing elsewhere sound rehearsed, that is worth acting on now rather than later.
Call our team at 713-965-7305 for a free case evaluation with a Houston DWI lawyer, or reach us through our contact page.
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