Facing a DUI charge is stressful enough on its own. But for many of our clients, the bigger fear is what happens to their job, their professional license, or their career trajectory. 

We represent good people facing DUI charges, and a significant part of our work is making sure the defense strategy we build accounts for what matters most to you, including your professional future.

Do You Have to Tell Your Employer About a DUI Arrest?

The short answer is: it depends. In most situations, there is no automatic notification from the court to your employer when you are arrested for a DUI. That means you generally have some discretion over how and when you disclose an arrest. However, several factors can change that:

If you are a union member, review your union agreement and speak with a union representative you trust before making any disclosures. If you have an employment contract, read it carefully. Some contracts include specific disclosure obligations tied to criminal arrests or convictions.

As a general rule, at the beginning of the process, you have not been convicted of anything. You do not yet know how the case will resolve. Unless there is a specific requirement you are aware of, waiting until you understand more about the likely outcome is often the more informed approach. An arrest is not a conviction, and the two carry very different legal and practical weight. Getting legal counsel before you say anything to an employer is almost always the right first step.

What About Professional Licenses?

If you hold a professional license in Oregon, the stakes are higher. Oregon has a foundational statute establishing baseline reporting requirements for licensed professionals: if you are convicted of a misdemeanor or arrested for a felony, you are generally required to report that to your licensing board.

But that is just the floor. Each profession, each industry, and each licensing body may have its own requirements that go further. A real estate agent, an insurance broker, a mortgage lender, a teacher, a nurse, a doctor, a pilot each faces different rules from different regulatory bodies.

Some licensing boards require reporting at arrest, not just conviction. Others have specific timelines within which a report must be filed. Missing a reporting deadline can itself become a separate disciplinary issue, compounding the original problem. This is exactly why we make a point of connecting our clients with attorneys who focus on employment and licensing law.

We handle the DUI defense. For the licensing side, we make a point of connecting our clients with attorneys who focus on employment and licensing law, so you have the best advice available in both areas.

When Your Profession Involves High Liability Licenses

When we represent doctors, nurses, pilots, and others in highly regulated professions, we always advise those clients to also engage an attorney who focuses on that area of law. We do not pretend to be employment lawyers, and we do not want our clients navigating licensing issues without proper guidance.

What we do offer is a DUI defense strategy built with your career in mind. We understand that some clients cannot afford any mark on their record. For those clients, the defense strategy may look very different than it would for someone whose career is not on the line. A 20 percent chance of winning at trial and preserving your career can be worth far more than a guaranteed plea that ends it.

If You Drive for Work

If your job involves operating an employer-owned or employer-insured vehicle, you should be aware that insurance companies typically run periodic records checks on all drivers. When they find a DUI arrest or conviction, they will generally notify the employer directly. This notification happens outside the criminal justice system, and the timing depends entirely on when the insurance company next runs its records. It could be tomorrow or six months from now.

This is one situation where your employer is likely to find out regardless of whether you proactively disclose. Knowing that, and preparing accordingly, is part of a complete strategy.

How Your Career Should Shape Your Defense Strategy

One of the most important things you can do is have an honest conversation with your attorney about what your career requires. Your DUI defense attorney needs to understand your future in order to build the right strategy for today.

We have represented clients who could not enter a diversion program, could not have anything on their record, and for whom a trial was the only realistic path even with uncertain odds. We have represented clients who needed to protect a security clearance or maintain an active professional license. In each case, knowing those stakes upfront shaped every decision we made.

Tell us what you are trying to protect. We will build the plan around it. We can negotiate the most favorable outcome possible for your case, in order to minimize the negative consequences on you and your family.

The Bigger Picture

A DUI can have lasting consequences that extend well beyond the courthouse. Your career represents years of education, experience, and effort. Protecting it is not just about today’s case. It is about everything you have built and everything you are working toward.

The criminal justice system moves on its own timeline, and the decisions made in the early weeks of a case can shape everything that follows. Plea decisions, diversion eligibility, trial strategy — all of these are influenced by what your attorney knows about your situation. The more complete a picture you give your attorney, the better equipped they are to make the right calls at every stage.

Help your attorney help you by sharing who you are, what you need, and what your future looks like. The more complete a picture we have, the better equipped we are to protect it at every stage of your case.