Cowan Kirk Gaston partners BIll Kirk and Eric Gaston both lectured at the annual DUI Defense seminar sponsored by the Washington Foundation for Criminal Justice held in Seattle on January 12th.  The seminar is one of the most well attended seminars of its kind in the country, with approximately 350 lawyers from Washington in attendance.

Bill Kirk lectured the lawyers on how to best handle the late night phone call DUI lawyers receive from those under arrest for DUI, and explained of the many nuances of new legislation going into effect on January 1, 2009, and how that legislation can affect the advise given during those phone calls.  Bill is also lecturing to the Winter Session of the National College for DUI Defense in January.

Eric Gaston's topic was how to most effectively represent a client before the Department of Licensing, and including a discussion of creative ways to deal with legal issues that msot frequently result in success in these very challenging proceedings.  Eric concluded his lecture by outlining a new argument that he has created  to challenge the Department's highly unfair process with the goal of having what are now DOL hearings removed from that entity to the much fairer jurisdiction of Administrative Law Judges.