dui training dwi training Posted on 2010/05/26 |

I must admit, before I get started that this post on the Seattle DUI attorney blog is meant to serve two purposes. First, I want to let everyone know about a great DUI training and DWI training program that I took last weekend. Second, I want to show the instructor of the DWI training program (which was a field sobriety test certification class - otherwise known as FST) how easy it really is to rank well in Google for any keywords you want (in this case it's a variation of DUI training and FST training).

The great thing about this post is that I don't even have to change what I would normally change. Simply writing about the experience is enough (and this is exactly what I explained to him). The key to maximizing what you are doing online, though, is writing what you really want to say and then structuring it in a way that optimizes the way that Google looks at it.

I like to think it's kind of like structuring a brief for the court of appeals. There is a very specific way they like it. You may have the best arguments, but if it's not structured right the court just isn't going to look at it the same way. Same goes for the Wild Wild West that is the internet.

Okay, now, back to the actual article. I was lucky enough last weekend to participate in the field sobriety testing class offered by Lance Platt of Platt and Associates. Lance is a former police officer turned PhD, who wrote his thesis on the accuracy and reliability of the horizontal gaze nystagmus test (otherwise known as the HGN). You probably aren't surprised to learn he found the test was a crock of shit.

But, the cops still have to do their DWI training and DUI attorneys still want to learn how to beat the cops up in trial, so Lance is there to teach us everything he knows about the FSTs. And I must say, it's a great class. It's the same class the cops are taught, but with a slightly different bend to it, and not like you think.

The best way I can describe the DUI training Lance offers is that he teaches the class and then explains some of the science, or lack thereof, behind the tests. He knows who his audience is and plays to that a little, but not like you'd think. Instead of kowtowing to what we want to hear he uses his podium to teach us how we can use this information to benefit our clients. It really is great stuff.

The FST certification course is a three day course. Day one is spent on the investigation aspect of a DUI stop. It goes through the three phases of a DUI arrest from initial contact through arrest decision. Day two is spent learning how to properly administer the FSTs and recognize the clues. It includes taking and giving the tests, and, in our case, included getting drunk and seeing how good we could do (this was technically after the class had adjourned for the day). Day three is testing day.

One of the more interesting things I learned in this DWI training and DUI training class was that prosecutor's never want to take the course (he offers this course to whoever wants to take it - and I'd recommend everyone take it). That strikes me as really odd, because if winning your DUI case is what you really want to do (and it's what I really want to do), then knowing the weaknesses in your case is as important as knowing the strengths. Plugging up the holes is often half the battle.

In the end, I hope this post makes it to the first page of Google for DUI training, DWI training, and even Platt and Associates. It will prove two points. First, it will prove what a great class this is, for every DUI lawyer in the country. And second, it will prove I know what I'm talking about when it comes to internet marketing (which may be a side business for me some day).