If you've been charged with a Seattle DUI, you know you are facing some stiff penalties. A minimum of 1 day in jail and an $865 fine. A minimum license suspension of 90 day. High risk car insurance. It's not a pretty picture.

Because the Legislature made the penalties so stiff, there is wiggle room to have your punishment lowered, particularly if you have good facts or have little criminal history. But you need someone to help. A DUI lawyer. In case you haven't talked to someone yet, I thought I'd give you a rundown of some of the possibilities for resolving your DUI case.

The worst case scenario is a straight up plea to DUI. The hook for the prosecutor is that you usually get as a sentencing recommendation the mandatory minimums. But for most people, that's not enough incentive. Often you'll get that same sentence if you go to trial, and at trial you have a chance to win. This doesn't happen often.

A level below the DUI plea is reckless driving. Though it counts as a prior DUI if caught again (as is negligent driving 2nd degree), there are advantages to reckless driving. First, no mandatory jail time. Second, no interlock ignition device. And finally, though there is a 30 day driver's license suspension, you can get an occupational license, which will let you drive to and from work.

After reckless driving is negligent driving 1st degree, a resolution we shoot for in every case. Negligent driving is great because it is only a misdemeanor, a minor criminal offense. There is also no mandatory minimum jail time, no interlock ignition device, and no driver's license suspension. The only downside to this is that if you are charged with DUI again it will count as a prior DUI.

After that comes any myriad of traffic infractions you might be able to get. It might be negligent driving 2nd degree, careless driving, or something like that. It's great because it's not criminal. You pay a fine and you're done.

And the best possible outcome, as you might expect, is an outright dismissal. The charges are dropped, you thank your Seattle DUI attorney profusely, and you walk out of the court free as a bird. These happen, but they are difficult as will. And this is what we aim for, though the facts often make dismissal impracticable.