Chicago Criminal Lawyer Blog
The Reality of DUI Arrests in Chicago and Why the Right Defense Matters
DUI arrests are common across Chicago, from the entertainment corridors of River North to the busy intersections of Avondale and the expressway interchanges on the Kennedy, Dan Ryan, and Stevenson. Police conduct thousands of DUI stops every year, and anyone stopped on suspicion of impaired driving quickly learns how aggressively the State of Illinois prosecutes these cases. Under 625 ILCS 5/11-501, DUI offenses can lead to a wide range of charges, with a first offense typically classified as a Class A misdemeanor, carrying up to a year in jail and thousands of dollars in fines. But circumstances can escalate these cases into felonies, and when that happens, the stakes rise dramatically.
Even when a case begins as a misdemeanor, the consequences reach far beyond court fines. A conviction can follow you for life, affect employment, raise insurance premiums, restrict professional licenses, and trigger a statutory suspension of your driving privileges. The good news is that DUI cases are among the most defensible criminal charges in Illinois—ifthe defense is built correctly from the beginning. As a Chicago DUI lawyer with decades of courtroom experience across Cook, DuPage, Will, and Lake Counties, I’ve seen time and again that the strongest defenses come from identifying the weaknesses in how the police conducted the stop, administered tests, and handled the investigation.
