When my daughter was arrested for driving under the influence (her second offense) I made arrangements to have Dan Koukol represent her. 

Dan started by getting  my daughter going to narcotics anonymous meetings, got her into counseling and treatment, and then he defended her criminal case.  

By the time her court case was concluded the judge was agreeing with Dan that my daughter should just continue with the regiment that she was on (NA, and counseling) and that no additional jail time was necessary.   This is an extremely good outcome,  especially in light of the fact that my daughter was on probation at the time of this new offense.

The outcome in court could not have been better.  And even more importantly,  my daughter, for the first time in several years, seems to be on the right track.  The combination of the court case, the counseling, and the NA meetings seems to have served as a real “wake-up call” for her.

There is a reason Dan is so successful in court,  he has an ability to see the big picture, he genuinely wants to make things right, and he wants to get people back on a good path.

Anonymous

November 2010.

The case was easy to prove for the prosecutor because my blood alcohol level was over .20.  The accident that I was involved in resulted in injuries to the other driver that were serious enough for him to be transported to the hospital by an ambulance.  The driver later notified my insurance company that he was asking for $40,000 dollars in medical expenses.

Mr. Koukol made several court appearances for me and met with the prosecutor a number of times.  He also had me attending Alcoholics Annonymous meetings and got me authorization to enter into the driving under the influence class immediately.

After approximately three months Mr. Koukol was able to settle my case as a misdemeanor, and I received the minimum sentence the law allows (five days of work project).

The outcome in my case was as good as it gets, in fact it is better than either my father or I had even hoped for.

I completely recommend Dan Koukol if you need a good criminal defense attorney.

Anonymous

October 2010.

One day I was drinking in order to distance my mind from a series of recently discovered personal problems. Unfortunately, I thought I was ok to drive a short distance to get a bite to eat. I ended up having a minor accident and an unpleasant encounter with a group of people that were essentially arresting me.

When the police arrived I was in a state of mind that I really can’t explain. My behavior with the police resulted in additional charges.

When I was able to bail myself out of jail, I was facing felony DUI charges (driving under the influence causing injury), felony hit and run charges (attempting to leave the scene of an accident causing injury) and resisting arrest charges. 

I knew I needed a good attorney so I researched the best DUI attorneys in California. I ended up hiring a law firm based in San Francisco. I paid them a large sum of money and signed a contract to pay them even more over time.

Well, to make a long story short my attorney was a big disappointment. He told me that we didn’t really have much of a chance of avoiding a felony conviction and that he had no idea how I could go about trying to keep my registered nurse license. He also did no investigation whatsoever. I think the final straw for me was that he was so slow returning my phone calls, I would have to call him several times before I could actually talk to him. 

I realized I had made a mistake so I started researching attorney’s again. This time I came across Dan Koukol. I read his web site and set up a meeting with him.

I felt comfortable with Mr. Koukol right away. He seemed to understand my situation and he told me what he thought I should do. His plan made perfect sense. I told him about the other attorney that I had hired and he told me his advice was that I should interview attorneys until I find one that I really feel comfortable with and then hire that attorney. He said I should not worry about hurting people’s feelings because what matters most is that I take care of myself. This turned out to be very good advice.

I very quickly decided I wanted to work with Mr. Koukol. I let the other attorney know that I was changing attorneys and Mr. Koukol made the arrangements.

At this point things changed dramatically. Mr. Koukol and his investigator actually did the things that I hoped someone would do for me. They thoroughly interviewed me. They visited the “crime scene”.  They met with and interviewed witnesses. They ordered employment timecards for businesses in the area to discover who may have seen what happened in my case. They subpoenaed medical records and the victim’s prior criminal history records. Mr. Koukol also contacted my profession’s licensing board and talked to them about my options.

Mr. Koukol suggested that I attend AA (alcoholics anonymous) meetings because he told me that “actions speak louder than words” when it comes to convincing the judge or the prosecutor that I recognize that I made a mistake and that I will never let it happen again.

Over the course of six months I probably met with Mr. Koukol at least a half dozen times. I am sure I talked to him on the phone twice that many times. What a difference, most of the time I could reach him immediately. When I left a message,  I would generally get a return call within an hour or so.

Close to the end of my case,  Mr. Koukol and I met to go over the medical reports together. He also showed me the “defense discovery package” that he prepared and sent to the prosecutor. It included 1) crime scene photographs, 2) multiple witness interviews, 3) medical reports, and 4) telephone records.  He also sent the prosecutor proof of all the counseling and AA meetings I was attending.

Shortly thereafter, Mr. Koukol and the prosecutor met with me to negotiate my case. Mr. Koukol was able to show the prosecutor that the injury to the victim in my case was so minor that the case should be treated as a non-injury DUI. He also pointed out that I was essentially being attacked by onlookers and that I had called 911 to try to protect myself. The hit and run was not intended to flee the scene but rather to secure my own safety. He indicated that my behavior with the police officer, although inappropriate, was not sufficiently hostile to warrant a criminal conviction.

After seeing the records of my attendance in AA and counseling sessions, the prosecutor agreed that I had “earned” a break. When all was said and done I ended up with a single (non injury) misdemeanor DUI with no jail time whatsoever. When I first hired Mr. Koukol, the prosecutor said he wanted to send me to state prison.

Wow.  This outcome was beyond my wildest dreams.

I have never heard anyone say anything good about attorneys before. Well, my opinion has changed.   Every step of the way, Mr. Koukol did the right thing. In the beginning during our initial meeting, he told me that he would “do his best” and that “things generally work out better than expected”. During the process, he was willing to help me with my professional license and had an amazing calm demeanor during the stressful days. In the end, he accomplished the best possible outcome. 

Without a doubt changing attorneys and hiring Mr. Koukol was the best decision I could have made. If you would like to talk to me more specifically about any of my experiences in this case, I have given Dan permission to give readers of this story my phone number.

~ Anonymous

When I hired Mr. Koukol, he agreed to represent me at the DMV hearing as well as on my court case. He told me that he could not promise any particular outcome but that he would do his best. I appreciated his straight forward attitude.

Well, I can tell you he really did do his best! Not only was my driver’s license suspension set aside by the California DMV, he also got my criminal case dismissed. The end result was that I never lost my driver’s license and I don’t have a DUI on my record.

I highly recommend Dan Koukol if you need an attorney that will be honest and work hard at doing his very best. He gets really good results.

~ Anonymous

Thank you very much for representing me. I am truly grateful for your counsel, understanding and careful consideration for me and my case. I sincerely appreciate you speaking so highly on my behalf. I honestly don’t know where I would be in this situation had you not been on my side and I just wanted to express to you again my deepest gratitude for all your help.

Thanks again,

~ S.C.

My first impression of Dan Koukol was that he was willing to meet with me immediately and then when we got together he seemed to be genuinely interested in helping me. Dan convinced me to begin attending AA meetings immediately, before the court ordered them, which I did. Throughout the process he was very patient and explained the situation that I was in and the pros and cons of different options that we had with my case.

In the end, Dan Koukol handled my case very well because he was able to convince the judge, even though the prosecutor objected, to give me a much more lenient sentence than what the prosecutor wanted. Dan was also prompt in returning my telephone calls and my emails, which I really appreciated.

I highly recommend Dan Koukol if you need a good defense  attorney.

~ Anonymous

My case was straight forward. Mr. Koukol could not avoid a conviction in my case but he was able to: 

1. Control the “start date” of my driver’s license suspension
2. Minimize the length of time my driver’s license was suspended
3. Negotiate my case with the prosecutor to get the lowest sentence possible
4. Negotiate the duration of the DUI class I had to attend which ended up as the shortest class (3 months)

I also really appreciated the fact that I had someone who was experienced, and willing to explain everything to me. Dan was able to “walk me through” the whole process.

Dan Koukol helped me tremendously and I recommend him if you need a DUI defense lawyer.

~ Anonymous

When Mr. Koukol first got started on my case the prosecutor’s offer was so high I would have lost my job if I would have accepted the offer. After several court appearances, Dan was able to convince the judge to order a much, much lower sentence. In fact it was less than one third of the original sentence offered.  The end result is that I will not lose my job now!

Dan Koukol definitely helped me.  I highly recommend him if you need a good attorney.

~ Anonymous

Nevertheless, Mr. Koukol was able to work things out in a way that I believe was very fair. He made arrangements so I could do community service in my home state and he eliminated the requirement that I attend the 18 month DUI School.

If you need a good Sacramento attorney, I recommend Dan Koukol.

~ Tony

First of all, he was able to convince the DA to strike one of my priors making it a DUI with two priors instead of three. Second, he got the DA to agree to make it a misdemeanor instead of a felony. This substantially reduced what I thought would be my imminent jail time. Third, Dan convinced the DA to allow me to serve the minimum sentence allowed by law and fourth, convinced the judge, under tremendous objection by the DA, to allow me to serve my time under Electronic Monitoring in my state of residence, which would allow me to keep my job and continue to support my family. 

Mr. Koukol did a tremendous job and I would recommend his services and talents to anyone who thinks their case is a lost cause. His knowledge of the law and his ability to negotiate with the judge and the DA is what saved my case and therefore saved my job and my way of life. 

~ JC