Arrested for a DUI after my holiday party in Michigan - what's the first thing I should do?

As the holiday season rolls in, many successful professionals in Michigan are attending their year-end holiday parties.  Celebrating a successful year with your company and co-workers is a fun night, but things could change quickly if proper plans are not laid out in advance.  

The majority of my clients who are charged with drunk driving in Michigan have no prior criminal history, and would never imagine themselves arrested for drunk driving.  They have good intentions and the plan is NOT to drink too much then drive, but something happens.  I call this the wild card of the evening, and it puts law abiding responsible people on the wrong side of the law.  I see it on almost every DUI case that I handle in Michigan.  

This could mean a plan to have someone else drive home, but that person can no longer drive or the plan could be to not drink or drink very little, but things change; it's easy to plan to have 1-2 then co-workers/bosses, friends etc intervene in some way and 2 drinks become 6 drinks.  Compound this with people not properly understanding what a "drink" looks like and you could have 8 glasses of wine in your system when the plan was 2 glasses.  

When 2 drinks become 8 drinks, your original plan goes out the window and you get "brave" and confident in your ability to get home without issue.  You may not want to take an expensive Uber, ask for a ride or risk your car being towed.  I've even heard from a client "well I had an early dentist appointment".  Clients reflect back and acknowledge their choices made zero sense, but at the time must have made enough sense that they made those choices.  

If you or someone you love now find yourself charged with a DUI in Michigan, the first thing to do is understand your bond conditions and when and where your next court date will be.  Next, it's time to decide how you want to best approach your case.  Do you want to sit back and hope things workout or do you want to take control of your case and be proactive from day one?