A DUI or DWI charge in New Jersey puts your license, your record, and your ability to drive to work at risk, and the courts move fast, often setting a hearing date within weeks of your arrest. No one can guarantee how a case ends, but we can guarantee we’ll outwork the state’s case at every stage, and we won’t stop until we’ve used every option available to you and get you the best possible outcome.
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“My day starts with the same question: how do we get your case dismissed, reduced, or beaten at trial.”
— STEVEN ELLMAN
A DUI or DWI conviction in New Jersey isn’t just a fine. It can mean months without a license, a permanent record that shows up on background checks, and higher insurance costs for years, which can never be deleted or expunged afterward.
Under N.J.S.A. 39:4-50, a first offense typically brings a license suspension and mandatory ignition interlock installation. A second or third offense adds mandatory jail time and a suspension measured in years, not months. What you’re actually facing depends on your record and the specifics of your arrest.
New Jersey’s municipal courts work to resolve DWI and refusal cases within about 60 days of arrest. That leaves a narrow window to pull the Alcotest records and camera footage that could change your case before the date the court has already set. Every day that passes is a day evidence gets harder to pull—calibration logs get archived, footage gets overwritten, witness memory fades. Don’t wait until the court date is close to start building your defense; call now while there’s still time to act on it.
Every case starts with the same groundwork: reviewing why the officer made the stop, how the field sobriety tests and breath test were administered, and whether the paperwork behind them, like calibration logs and observation records, actually supports the charge. Those details determine whether there’s a real opening for a reduced charge, a dismissal, or a trial. We go through that groundwork on every single case, without exception, and if the first pass doesn’t turn up the opening we need, we go back through it again.
We go after the case at its weakest point: getting an unlawful stop thrown out, showing the Alcotest wasn’t calibrated or monitored the way it’s supposed to be, or showing the field sobriety tests weren’t scored correctly, then using that leverage to negotiate a better result or taking the case to trial.
Because penalties escalate sharply with each prior conviction under N.J.S.A. 39:4-50, the strategy shifts with the offense number: on a first offense, the focus is often on keeping a conviction off the record entirely; on a second or third, it’s on avoiding mandatory jail time and the longest license suspensions by finding every evidentiary weakness the state’s case has.
Because New Jersey holds drivers under 21 to a near-zero BAC limit, underage DUI defense often means pushing back on how the breath or urine test was handled, since even a small margin of error can be the difference between a conviction and a dismissal at that threshold.
When reckless driving, careless driving, or another traffic violation is charged alongside or instead of a DWI, the goal is resolving it in a way that doesn’t compound the penalties or the points against your license.
Reduced to Reckless Driving & Tailgating
DWI and Multiple Traffic Offenses (Middlesex County) DWI (possible 2nd offense), reckless driving, careless driving and tailgating.
Reduced to Reckless Driving
DWI and Multiple Traffic Offenses (Monmouth County) DWI, failure to maintain lane, reckless driving and careless driving.
Reduced to Reckless Driving & Open Container
DWI and Multiple Traffic Offenses (Mercer County) DWI, refusal, reckless driving and open container.
Reduced to Reckless Driving
DWI and Reckless Driving (Monmouth County) DWI and reckless driving.
Reduced to Reckless Driving/Cell Phone Violation
DWI and Multiple Traffic Offenses (Mercer County) DWI, reckless driving, failure to maintain lane and cell phone violation.
Reduced to Careless Driving
DWI and Multiple Traffic Offenses (Middlesex County) DWI, careless driving, unclear plates and speeding.
Steven Ellman reviews the arrest, the charges, and your BAC or refusal status directly with you, with no charge and no obligation.
He pulls the Alcotest maintenance and calibration records, body camera and dashcam footage, and the officer’s account of the stop and field sobriety tests.
Where the evidence has a real gap, that becomes the basis for a motion to suppress, a negotiated resolution, or trial preparation. If it takes one court date or ten, the case gets fought until it’s resolved as favorably as the facts allow, not until it’s convenient to stop.
Cases are resolved through dismissal, a reduced charge, or trial, depending on what the evidence supports.
Three decades spent only on these cases means knowing the Alcotest protocols, the local prosecutors, and the municipal court judges firsthand. Steven Ellman is also a member of the DUI Defense Lawyers Association and the New Jersey Criminal Defense Bar Association, both built around exactly this kind of case.
Steven Ellman works out of offices in Medford and Moorestown and appears regularly in courts throughout Northern, Central, and Southern New Jersey, so wherever your case is being heard, you’re not stuck with someone unfamiliar with that courtroom.
In cases handled by this Law Office of Steven Ellman, DWI charges have been knocked down to careless or reckless driving, avoiding a DWI conviction and the license suspension that comes with it. Results depend on the facts of each case, but the case results show real examples of what’s been achieved.
From the first call, you’re speaking with the person who will actually be in court for you, so nothing about your case gets lost being relayed secondhand. No hand-off; the attorney you talk to today is the one who shows up in court for you.
Disclaimer: Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances.
When you need a defense attorney, Steven Ellman can help.
When you need defense attorney for a DUI matter, Steven Ellman can help.
When you need a defense attorney for a traffic violation matter, Steven Ellman can help.
Facing a First-Time DUI Charge? Attorney Steven Ellman will guide you through your legal rights and options
Facing a Second-Time DUI Charge? Attorney Steven Ellman will guide you through your legal rights and options
Facing a Third-Time DUI Charge? Attorney Steven Ellman will guide you through your legal rights and options
Looking for an Underage DUI Attorney? Attorney Steven Ellman is here to help you comprehend your legal rights and explore available options
If you’ve been charged with driving under the influence in NJ, you need a hard-hitting DUI lawyer to provide a fierce defense for you. Put Attorney Steven Ellman to work for you.
If you need help facing DUI charges in New Jersey, contact the Law Offices of Steven Ellman.
No. The Alcotest 7110 MKIII-C must meet strict calibration, observation, and data-logging requirements for its results to be admitted. If those records are incomplete or inconsistent, the reading can be challenged; further, Alcotest number 9510 has not been deemed reliable by the NJ Supreme Court.
Only if there’s a legitimate factual basis for it. A 2024 change to N.J.S.A. 39:4-50 now allows DWI plea agreements, but a weak point in the state’s evidence is usually what creates room for one.
New Jersey courts typically move to resolve DWI cases within about 60 days of arrest. That leaves a narrow window to pull Alcotest records and camera footage before your court date is set. The sooner you call, the more of that window is still yours to use.
The sooner Steven Ellman reviews your case, the more time there is to check the Alcotest records, the field sobriety test administration, and the traffic stop itself for the kind of problems that can change the outcome. No result can be guaranteed, but the fight for the best one available to you starts the moment you call, and it doesn’t stop until the case is resolved.
Let’s start building your defense.