Why You Should Hire a Lawyer for Your DMV Hearing

North Carolina DMV Hearing Attorneys of Kurtz & Blum

The North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles has the authority to suspend your license without a preliminary hearing in a number of circumstances. If your license is revoked, you may have the opportunity to attend a hearing to have your driving privileges reinstated. You are entitled to have an attorney present at this hearing. Doing so will likely improve your chances of getting your license back.

There are several types of DMV hearings:

If you have a DWI hearing at the DMV, please see our DWI Related DMV Hearings page.

A DMV Medical Hearing

The North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles can revoke someone’s license for a medical condition, such as epilepsy or diabetes. It is possible to apply for a DMV Medical hearing and win back your privilege to drive. As with any other DMV hearing, the key is proving that you will be a safe and responsible driver.

At these hearings, you will face a medical review panel of DMV hearing officers. At Kurtz & Blum, PLLC, we take the time to fully understand your medical condition and the factors that led to revocation of your license. We can work closely with your medical professional to ensure we present convincing, accurate and up-to-date information.

A Driving While License Revoked Hearing

After three or more moving violations during a period of revocation, the DMV will impose what is called a permanent revocation. In actuality, these types of permanent revocations mean that a licensee is revoked for between three and four years. Ideally, after two years of not accumulating any convictions for moving violations, the revoked individual is eligible for and should secure a limited driving privilege. After three years of revocation an individual who is permanently revoked becomes eligible for a hearing at the Department of Motor Vehicles. If that individual held a limited driving privilege for the last year of revocation then they will not need to produce witnesses at the hearing. On the other hand, if no limited driving privilege was obtained, the revoked individual must present testimony from two witnesses, preferably from their household, who can testify to the fact that they have not been driving. It is likely that a hearing officer will also inquire about drug and alcohol habits during this hearing. The sooner the attorneys at Kurtz & Blum, PLLC are involved in this process the greater our chance for success. If you were permanently revoked for multiple moving violations during a period of revocation and you are approaching eligibility for a hearing, call us, we can help.

If you have further questions, please feel free to read through our frequently asked questions page, which includes a section on DMV hearings. Otherwise, you may of course contact us directly.

Here is a written transcript of our DMV hearing video:

Seth A. Blum, Partner

There are lots of different reasons why people lose their right to drive. In North Carolina you can lose your license for medical reasons, for a particularly high speeding charge, for refusing to take a breath test or for a DWI conviction among a host of other reasons. In almost all of these situations there is an opportunity to have a hearing at the Department of Motor Vehicles or DMV. It is during this hearing that you get an opportunity to make your case as to why it is you should not be revoked or why you should have your right to drive reinstated. Like most other hearings you don’t have to have a lawyer but it is highly recommended.

If you’ve already lost your right to drive the most important thing you need to know is that you need to stop driving. If you continue to drive it makes it extremely difficult to ever work it out so that you can get your license back. Please talk to us before you rack up a number of charges for driving on a revoked license. This kind of problem can snowball out of control quickly and easily. Every conviction for a moving violation that you get while your license is revoked will cause a minimum of one additional year of revocation.

Howard A. Kurtz, Partner

If your revocation is due to refusal to take a breath test and you are charged with a DWI there are tactical reasons why it may be to your benefit in the criminal case to challenge the refusal in a DMV hearing. If you know what you’re doing these hearings are not terribly complicated though they are time-consuming. We know what we’re doing.  Before you run the risk of extending your revocation, give us a call. There is no fee for an initial consultation.

Our traffic attorneys help people throughout Wake County, North Carolina. We frequently handle offenses arising out of the following cities: Fuquay-Varina, New Hope, Apex, Garner, Wake Forest, Knightdale, Rolesville, Zebulon, Holly Springs, Raleigh, Morrisville, Wendell and Cary.