Testimonial Letters: The not-so-big secret key!

For years, Michigan lawyers have shared secret information behind closed doors, discussing how testimonial letters should be drafted to satisfy the DLAD in order to win a Michigan driver's license restoration hearing. Here's the not-so-big secret: There is no secret!

These letters are easy to write, and the DLAD does not try to hide what the Hearing Officer wants to see in these letters. Here's what you need in each letter:

The person's name and relationship to you.

How often the person sees you.

How long the person has known you.

The last time the person saw or had knowledge of you drinking or using a controlled substance.

The amount of alcohol or controlled substance the person know you consumed on the last occasion.

What social activities you participate in involving alcohol or controlled substances.

The person's knowledge of your past or current involvement in treatment and/or a support group.

Other information that the person believes is important.

Each letter that a friend or family member writes should include all of the above information. It does not need to sound like a letter written by a lawyer. The letter is persuasive on its face so long as the person drafting the letter is honest and sets forth each of the above factors in a clearly written letter.

Important: Although the DLAD / DAAD rules do not require that these letters be notarized, the form DLAD-66 states that these "three to six letters must be signed, dated and notarized with a complete mailing address and telephone number where the writer can be reached between 8 a.m. -- 5 p.m. EST. Letters should be as current as possible."

If you are in a support group, one of your letters should be from your sponsor. Other letters should come from family members and co-workers, or other people that know you well enough to share information about the factors detailed above in sufficient detail. The DLAD emphasizes that letters should come from a "cross-sampling of your family, family and co-workers who are in a position to know, observe and personally attest to your habits regarding the use of alcohol and/or controlled substances."

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