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To the majority of professionals, a DUI is a legal challenge. It is an issue that has to be controlled, an error that has to be corrected. The DUI is career threatening to pilots. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) demands more than may be expected of the general population regardless of whether you are a commercial airline captain, a corporate pilot or a private aviation enthusiast.
We are witnessing a lot of pilots in Atlanta, who think they can get away with a DUI. They have a general criminal lawyer on board and put off the court appointments, and believe that so far they have not been found guilty, their right to fly is intact. This is a disastrous misconception of federal law. And you have FAA airman certificate, you are presently governed by another regulation, namely, 14 CFR 61.15. You can easily lose your wings before you leave this earth without knowing this regulation.
The fallacy is the 60-Day Reporting Rule. Federal regulations state that you must report any form of motor vehicle activity in the Security and Hazardous Materials Safety Office of the FAA within 60 days. The danger lurks in the term of the motor vehicle action. A majority of the pilots think that it is a conviction. They believe that, I am innocent until proven guilty, and thus, I will report it only after the trial is concluded.
This logic is fatal. According to the FAA definitions, a motor vehicle act does not only include a criminal conviction, but also an administrative suspension of a license. When you are arrested in Georgia with DUI, the police will likely institute an immediate driver license suspension (ALS) in the event that you refuse to take a test or blow above the legal limit.
When your suspension takes place, you have 60 days to clock.
By just waiting half a year to see your criminal case resolved, you have already broken federal law. The FAA is allowed and will suspend or revoke the certificate of your pilot on the failure to report even though, you may end up acquitted of the DUI in state court. You might even win your criminal case and lose your career due to failing to meet a paperwork deadline that your non-aviation lawyer was not even aware existed.
That is why a regular defense lawyer is not sufficient. You require an Atlanta DUI Attorney with the knowledge of the point of contact between the Georgia traffic law and federal aviation laws. To save the life of your pilot tomorrow, you must have a defense plan that will protect the license of your driver today.
This is the degree of expertise that James Yeargan will possess. Yeargan is also a defense attorney who is referred to as DUI Jim because he is also a former prosecutor dealing with DUI with almost 20 years of experience. He knows that administrative hearing (ALS hearing) can be even more crucial than trial in a criminal case to a pilot.
As James Yeargan is aware the administrative suspension of your driver license is the last line of defense, the initial line of defense is the aviation career. When he is able to help your driver save his driver license by getting it suspended at the ALS hearing, he has essentially frozen the time on one of the two reportable incidents. This will save you time and keep your track record intact as he battles the criminal charge behind.
Moreover, James Yeargan knows subtleties of the very reporting. He is aware of the fact that it does not count as compliance to send incorrect information, or send it to a different office (such as your local Flight Standards District Office as opposed to the particular security division in Oklahoma City). He can also instruct you on what specifically to reveal in order to appease the FAA without giving any extra information that would lead to a medical examination or substance abuse investigation.
Pilots are affected by a DUI arrest in a domino effect. It includes the Georgia driver services, criminal courts and the FAA. Both of them possess their deadlines, their criteria of evidence, and their punishments. One of them may be run by a general practitioner; the whole ecosystem is run by James Yeargan.
When your bread and butter rely on whether you can fly or not then you just can not wait and see. You do not have the money to hire a lawyer that is learning 14 CFR 61.15 as he goes. You must have someone in your corner who understands that the clock began to run when the handcuffs were clucked on. You must have James Yeargan to get through the turbulence and land you safely.
