Your Administrative License Suspension began the night you were arrested — not at your court date. The appeal is filed at arraignment, and in Cincinnati that is usually Room 121, 1000 Main Street, at 9:00 a.m.
Free, confidential case review. Calls answered 24 hours; every message that arrives overnight gets a reply within one business day — with your ALS deadline calculated in writing.
Most of the damage in an Ohio OVI case is done before anyone talks about trial. These are the moves, in order, and what each one is for.
The BMV 2255 form is your citation, your test result and your suspension notice in one. We need the date on it — the ALS appeal window runs from that date, not from your arraignment.
Hamilton County Municipal, or a village mayor's court in Blue Ash, Sharonville, Springdale or Elmwood Place that may later transfer downtown. If you were held, arraignment is Courtroom A at the Justice Center, 1000 Sycamore St.
Written demand for cruiser and body-camera video, the Intoxilyzer 8000 or BAC DataMaster instrument log, calibration records under OAC 3701-53, and the officer's field-sobriety notes.
Limited privileges for work, school and childcare — or unlimited privileges with a certified ignition interlock device under ORC 4510.022. Qualifying first-time testers can often have the 15-day hard suspension waived.
We enter a not-guilty plea, appeal the ALS on the record, request discovery in writing, and set the pretrial. You do not stand up there alone and you do not guess at the answers.
Misdemeanor OVI work is quoted flat — never hourly. You get the number in writing at the consultation, and unearned fees sit in the firm's IOLTA trust account until the work is done.
| Matter | Stage | Flat fee |
|---|---|---|
| OVI, first offenseLow tier, .08–.169, no accident | Through plea or diversion | $1,750 |
| OVI, first offenseSet for suppression hearing and trial | Contested, through trial | $3,400 |
| High-tier or refusal.17+ breath, or a refusal with a prior within 20 years | Contested | $3,900–$5,200 |
| OVI, second in 10 yearsMandatory jail exposure, plate and interlock issues | Contested | $4,500–$6,500 |
| Felony OVIFourth or fifth within 10 years — Common Pleas | Indictment through resolution | Quoted at consult |
| ALS appeal & driving privilegesFiled standalone if you already have counsel | Arraignment + one hearing | $650 |
| Underage OVI / "not a drop"UC, Xavier and Miami students — includes school conduct letter | Through resolution | $1,900 |
| CDL & professional license defenseNurses, teachers, contractors, clearance holders | Coordinated with the criminal case | $1,200 add-on |
| Record sealing / expungementORC 2953.32, as expanded by SB 288 (eff. April 4, 2023) | Petition through hearing | $900–$1,400 |
Payment plans start at $250 down. Credit cards and third-party legal financing accepted. Fees do not include court costs, fines, lab or expert fees, or BMV reinstatement. No fee is ever described as nonrefundable, and no result is promised — every case turns on its own facts and its own record.
A high-tier reading raises the mandatory minimum to six days and adds restricted yellow plates. A third OVI in ten years carries 30 days to one year in jail, an $850–$2,750 fine, a two- to twelve-year suspension and possible vehicle forfeiture.
That is the arithmetic behind hiring counsel on day one rather than at the third pretrial.
Ohio calls it OVI — Operating a Vehicle Impaired. Elsewhere it is DUI or DWI. Same charge, and the statute is ORC 4511.19.
Per se counts and impaired counts, low tier through high tier, refusals, physical control, and felony OVI on a fourth or fifth within ten years. We litigate the stop, the field sobriety administration and the test before we ever discuss a plea.
The ALS is imposed by the BMV at arrest — 90 days on a first test failure — and it is appealed at arraignment or it is generally gone. We also file for limited privileges and interlock-based unlimited privileges.
Clifton and CUF stops near the University of Cincinnati, plus Oktoberfest and move-in weekend. Under-21 cases carry their own lower threshold, their own suspension math and a university conduct hearing running in parallel.
For drivers running I-75 and the Brent Spence Bridge, and for nurses, teachers, insurance agents and clearance holders, the licensing consequence usually outlasts the criminal one. We plan both at the same table.
SB 288 widened what can be sealed in Ohio as of April 4, 2023. We pull your certified record from the clerk, tell you plainly what is eligible, and file the petition. Note: OVI convictions are statutorily excluded from sealing.
Half the panic in an OVI arrest is not knowing which building to walk into. Here is the map, with the addresses we appear at every week.
Stops we see most: I-71 and I-75 through the basin, I-275, US-50 Columbia Parkway, SR-562 Norwood Lateral, and the Vine St. and Hamilton Ave. corridors. Volume climbs on Bengals home Sundays, Reds night games, FC Cincinnati matches, Oktoberfest Zinzinnati, Bockfest, BLINK and Riverfest weekend.
One attorney, two paralegals, no case handoffs. You get the phone number of the person appearing in Room 121 on your date.
Four years as an assistant prosecutor, then sixteen on the defense side. I spent the first part of my career reading the same police reports, watching the same cruiser video, and calling the same breath-test technicians to the stand. I know what a thin OVI file looks like from the inside, and I know which ones the State does not want to try.
The practice is deliberately narrow: impaired driving, license suspensions, and the collateral licensing and record work that follows. I do not take personal injury, I do not take divorce, and I do not take cases I cannot personally appear on.
Every new matter starts the same way — a 40-minute call or office meeting, your citation and BMV 2255 read line by line, your ALS deadline calculated, and a flat fee quoted in writing before you decide anything.
Anonymized from consultations taken in Cincinnati this year. Nothing here is advice about your facts — that takes a conversation.
"They pulled me over on Columbia Parkway, took my license and handed me a piece of paper. Can I drive to work Monday?"Mt. Lookout · first offense
Answer: Maybe. A qualifying first-time tester can often have the 15-day hard suspension waived, and privileges can be requested at arraignment. Bring the paper — the date on it drives everything.
"I blew a .19 and I have never been in trouble in my life. Am I going to jail?"Hyde Park · high-tier reading
Answer: A high-tier conviction carries a six-day mandatory minimum and restricted plates. That is why the test itself — instrument log, calibration, the 20-minute observation — gets attacked first, not last.
"It has been seven years and it still shows on background checks. Can I get it off?"Norwood · sealing inquiry
Answer: Often yes for non-OVI convictions since SB 288 expanded eligibility in April 2023. We pull your certified record first and tell you what is eligible before you pay a filing fee.
Six commitments that appear in every engagement letter this firm sends. No result is guaranteed; the process is.
If yours is not here, ask it on the phone. The consultation is free and confidential either way.
No. Call now. If we can get the file and your BMV 2255 tonight, we appear with you, enter the plea and preserve the ALS appeal on the record. Same-day appearances happen most weeks.
It changes the case, it does not end it. A refusal carries a longer administrative suspension, and a criminal refusal count requires a prior OVI within 20 years. Refusal cases are often more triable, not less.
Sometimes. Mayor's court matters from villages like Blue Ash, Sharonville or Elmwood Place may be transferred into Hamilton County Municipal Court. Which venue you end up in changes strategy, so we confirm it before your first date.
Ohio sets separate tiers by specimen: serum/plasma .096–.204 and urine .11–.237 bracket the low tier. Which specimen was taken, and how it was collected and stored, is frequently the whole argument.
Yes — plans start at $250 down, with the balance scheduled around your pay periods. Cards and third-party legal financing accepted. Unearned fees stay in trust until earned.
No. OVI convictions are statutorily excluded from sealing in Ohio under ORC 2953.36. That permanence is the strongest argument for fighting the charge now rather than pleading to get it over with.
Bring the citation and the BMV 2255. In about 40 minutes you will leave with your ALS deadline, your court date and room number, the realistic range of outcomes, and a flat fee in writing.
Email: intake@marlowedefense.example
Downtown Cincinnati, garage parking validated for client meetings. Serving Over-the-Rhine, Hyde Park, Oakley, Clifton, Northside, Norwood, Anderson Twp. and the surrounding counties.
Tell us what happened. What you share here is confidential.
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