Madison OWI Lawyer & Wisconsin Criminal Defense Attorney
Madison OWI Lawyer for Drunk Driving Defense
Avena Law Office, LLC defends drivers facing OWI, DUI, refusal, underage OWI, drugged driving, BAC test issues, and criminal charges in Madison, Dane County, and South-Central Wisconsin. If you were stopped, arrested, cited, or charged, act quickly before license deadlines and court dates move further.
Madison OWI Lawyer
Rated on Google
Dane County Drunk Driving Defense
Free Consultation
Madison OWI Defense
Defense for OWI, DUI, refusal, drugged driving, and BAC test allegations.
License & Court Guidance
Fast review of citations, test paperwork, refusal issues, and next steps.
Madison-Based Attorney
Office located at 1402 Greenway Cross, Suite 202, Madison, WI 53713.
Not Sure Where to Start?
Tell Us What You Are Facing
Two taps takes you to the page written for your situation. Every path ends the same way: a free, confidential conversation with Attorney Glenn E. Avena.
What kind of case is it?
Which of these fits best?
This is my first OWI
License, insurance, work and record
I have a prior OWI
Repeat-offense exposure and strategy
I refused the test
A hearing must be requested within 10 days
I dispute the breath or blood result
Timing, procedure and lab evidence
The driver is under 21
Absolute sobriety, school and licence consequences
I hold a CDL
Commercial licence and career consequences
I need to drive for work
Occupational licence eligibility
Which describes the accusation?
Domestic-related
No-contact orders, bond conditions, family impact
Battery or assault
Injury allegations and self-defence issues
Serious injury alleged
Substantial or aggravated battery
Disorderly conduct
The most commonly charged Wisconsin misdemeanour
False imprisonment
Confinement allegations
A sexual assault allegation
Confidential, urgent defence
Nothing you select here is recorded or sent anywhere. To speak with the firm,
call 608.271.2271 or
request a free consultation.
Priority Practice Area
Madison OWI Lawyer for the Search That Matters Most
When someone searches "Madison OWI lawyer," they usually need help now. Avena Law Office, LLC has built a dedicated Wisconsin OWI defense hub for drivers facing first offense OWI, second offense OWI, refusal hearings, occupational license issues, CDL consequences, underage OWI, drugged driving, and BAC test defense.
First Offense OWIProtect your license, insurance, work, and future.
Second Offense OWIRepeat-offense strategy and enhanced-consequence review.
Refusal HearingFast review of refusal paperwork and deadlines.
BAC Test DefenseBreath, blood, timing, procedure, and lab issues.
Drugged DrivingTHC, prescription, controlled substance, and lab evidence.
CDL OWICareer-focused defense for commercial drivers.
Avena Law Office, LLC
Glenn E. Avena
Madison OWI Lawyer and Criminal Defense Attorney Serving South-Central Wisconsin
When a driver, minor, student, young adult, or family member is accused of OWI or another crime, the stakes are immediate and personal. A charge can affect driving privileges, school, scholarships, employment, housing, licensing, and long-term opportunities.
Attorney Glenn E. Avena provides strategic Madison OWI and criminal defense representation focused on protecting the client's license, record, reputation, education, and future.
- Juvenile Defense
- Student Criminal Defense
- Underage Alcohol Charges
- DUI / OWI Defense
- Drug Charges
- Domestic Violence Allegations
- Felony & Misdemeanor Defense
- Expungement Questions
Avena Law Office, LLC
A Dedicated Madison Team
A dedicated team of two attorneys and two paralegals handles the work. You will know who is on your file, and they will know your name.
Eric Caudill
Associate Attorney
Kathryn Avena
Paralegal
Claire Krause
Paralegal
Client Reviews
What clients say, straight from Google
The rating below is read from the firm’s Google Business Profile when this page loads. It is not a number typed into the website, and it changes when the reviews change.
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out of 5
Business Profile
Where else the firm is listed
Attorney Glenn E. Avena also keeps public profiles on the directories below. Ratings there are maintained by each platform, so they are linked rather than reprinted here.
Visit the Office
One Madison office, on Greenway Cross
Not a mail drop and not a shared suite rented by the hour. This is where the files are, where the meetings happen, and where the phone rings.
- Address
- 1402 Greenway Cross, Suite 202
Madison, WI 53713 - Phone
- 608.271.2271
- Hours
- Monday to Friday, 8:30am–5:00pm. If we are in court, leave a message and the call is returned.
- Getting here
- Just off the Beltline at Fish Hatchery Road, south side of Madison. Free surface parking at the door.
- Languages
- English and Spanish. Se habla español.
- Consultation
- Free and confidential, in person or by phone.
"A young person's mistake should not define the rest of their life."
- Glenn E. AvenaCriminal Defense Services
Find your charge
Pick the group your situation falls into. Each card goes straight to a page written for that charge, with the penalties, the deadlines, and the defences that actually apply to it in Wisconsin.
OWI & drunk driving
First offence through tenth, refusal hearings, BAC disputes, CDL and under-21 cases.
Open the OWI hub Refused the testA refusal hearing has to be demanded in writing within ten days of the notice, or the revocation simply starts.
See the deadline Driving for workOccupational licence eligibility, restrictions, and what an interlock requirement really means day to day.
Occupational licence Drug chargesTHC, controlled substances, prescriptions, and whether the search that found them was lawful at all.
Drug possession defence Domestic allegationsNo-contact orders, bond conditions, and the practical problem of being ordered out of your own home.
Domestic violence defence Battery & assaultMisdemeanour through aggravated battery, injury evidence, and self-defence where the facts support it.
Battery defence Disorderly conductWisconsin’s most commonly charged misdemeanour, and the record it leaves if nobody fights it.
Disorderly conduct Theft & larcenyRetail theft and larceny, where the dollar thresholds sit, and when a theft charge becomes a felony.
Theft defence Criminal damageDamage valuation, restitution exposure, and whether the state can actually prove intent.
Criminal damage Felony defenceSerious charges where the first two weeks decide what options are still on the table later.
Felony defence Juvenile & student casesSchool incidents, underage alcohol, and first contact with police, handled with the record in mind.
Misdemeanour & juvenile Clearing a recordWisconsin expungement rules are narrow and the timing matters. Find out quickly whether you qualify.
ExpungementWhy Early Defense Matters
A Criminal Case Can Affect School, Work, Housing, and Your Future
For OWI defendants, juveniles, students, and young adults, early legal action can be critical. A criminal defense attorney can review the facts, license paperwork, test evidence, police reports, deadlines, and possible weaknesses before the case moves further.
Clear Guidance From the Start
What actually happens after you call
Four steps, in order. Open any one of them to see what it involves and roughly how long it takes.
You call 608.271.2271 or send the form. You describe what happened in your own words. Nothing you say is billed and nothing leaves the office.
- Have your citation, bond paperwork, or Notice of Intent to Revoke to hand if you have them.
- Say which county the case is in — it changes who the prosecutor is and how the case moves.
- Mention any court date you have already been given, even if it is months away.
- If English is not your first language, say so. Spanish is spoken here.
Police reports, citations, test paperwork, bond conditions and court notices are pulled and read line by line. This is where most of the useful problems in a case are found.
- Was the stop lawful, and does the report actually say why?
- Were the implied-consent warnings read properly, and in a language you understood?
- Do the breath or blood timings, the machine records and the lab paperwork line up?
- Are the bond conditions ones you can realistically live with, or do they need changing now?
You get told what the realistic outcomes are, not the best one. The plan is built around what is genuinely at stake for you — a licence, a job, a scholarship, a visa, a professional registration.
- Motions worth filing, and motions that would only cost you money.
- Whether a diversion or deferred agreement is realistically available in that county.
- What a plea would actually mean, spelled out before anyone signs anything.
- What the case looks like if it goes to trial instead.
Hearings, negotiation, and trial if that is where it goes. You are told what each date is for before it happens, and what came out of it afterwards.
- You are not left to guess what a hearing was about.
- Calls are returned. If we are in court, they are returned after.
- Where an expungement or licence step is possible afterwards, you are told how to take it.
Madison-Based. Wisconsin-Focused.
Where the firm appears
Fourteen counties across South-Central Wisconsin. Select one to see its county seat and what the firm handles there. Dane is the home county — the office is ten minutes from the courthouse.
Roots in This Community
Why these affiliations actually matter to your case
A list of logos proves nothing. Here is what each of these memberships means in practice for somebody sitting across the table from this firm.
State Bar of Wisconsin
Licensed and in good standing to practise law in Wisconsin.
This is the baseline. You can verify any Wisconsin lawyer’s standing through the State Bar directory, and you should. Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense LawyersThe association for lawyers who defend criminal cases, not lawyers who dabble in them.
Membership means staying current on Wisconsin OWI, search and suppression law as it changes — which it does, constantly. Latino Chamber of Commerce of Dane CountyAn active connection to Dane County’s Latino community, not a line on a CV.
This firm answers the phone in Spanish and runs a full Spanish edition of this website. For a family where English is the second language, that is the difference between understanding your case and nodding along. VFW Post 11244Glenn E. Avena is a United States Army veteran.
Veterans facing charges often have service-connected issues in play, and courts have veteran-specific options. It helps to be represented by somebody who does not need that explained. Dane County Bar AssociationThe local bar, in the county where most of these cases are heard.
Knowing the courthouse, the commissioners and the prosecutors is not glamorous. It is how you find out what a case can realistically be resolved for. American Bar AssociationNational standards, continuing education, and professional responsibility.
Relevant mostly because it keeps a practice honest about ethics rules that exist to protect clients, not lawyers. Greater Madison Chamber of CommerceA working business in Madison, with an address you can drive to.
Employment consequences are often the real damage in a criminal case. Knowing this city’s employers helps in arguing about them. 10 Best Attorneys — WisconsinNamed by the American Institute of Criminal Law Attorneys in 2018 for client satisfaction.
An award from 2018 is a snapshot, not a promise. Past results never guarantee future outcomes — read the reviews above for something current.OWI Lawyer Madison WI
The words on your paperwork, defined
Wisconsin OWI paperwork is written in terms nobody explains at the roadside. Each term below is defined plainly, with the statute it comes from, so you can match it against the documents in your hand.
- OWI — Operating While Intoxicated
- Wisconsin’s name for the offence most of the country calls DUI or DWI. It covers operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, a controlled substance, or any combination that renders you incapable of safe driving. You can be charged even below 0.08 if the state says you were impaired. Wis. Stat. § 346.63(1)
- PAC — Prohibited Alcohol Concentration
- A separate count that often appears alongside OWI on the same citation. OWI is about impairment; PAC is about the number itself. Both can be charged for one stop, though you are generally sentenced on only one. Wis. Stat. § 346.63(1)(b)
- Implied consent
- By driving in Wisconsin you are treated as having already agreed to a chemical test of breath, blood or urine when lawfully requested. The officer is required to read you a specific set of warnings before asking. Whether those warnings were properly given is a live issue in many cases. Wis. Stat. § 343.305
- Refusal, and the 10-day window
- If police record that you refused testing, you are handed a Notice of Intent to Revoke Operating Privilege. You must deliver a written request for a refusal hearing to the court named on that notice within 10 days. Miss it and the revocation simply begins — there is no hearing and nothing to argue. Wis. Stat. § 343.305(9)(a)4.
- Absolute sobriety
- Drivers under 21 in Wisconsin may not operate with any measurable alcohol at all. A reading far below the adult limit is still a violation, which is why under-21 cases often surprise families. Wis. Stat. § 346.63(2m)
- Occupational licence
- A restricted licence permitting driving for work, school, and household necessities during a revocation, subject to hour and route limits. Eligibility depends on your record and the offence, and it is not automatic. Wis. Stat. § 343.10
- IID — Ignition Interlock Device
- A breath-testing device wired to the ignition. Wisconsin commonly orders one on a first offence where the reported concentration was 0.15 or higher, or where testing was refused. It is a cost and an inconvenience that lasts long after the court case ends. Wis. Stat. § 343.301
- Counting prior offences
- A second offence is counted using a ten-year look-back. A third and any later offence counts convictions across your entire lifetime. A previous refusal revocation can itself count as a prior offence, which catches people out. Wis. Stat. § 343.307
- What a conviction carries
- A first offence is a civil forfeiture of $150–$300 in most cases. A second is a misdemeanour carrying $350–$1,100 and 5 days to 6 months. A fourth is a Class H felony. A passenger under 16 doubles the fines and jail, and makes a third or later offence a felony outright. Wis. Stat. § 346.65(2)
These definitions are general public information drawn from the Wisconsin Statutes. They are not legal advice, they do not cover every exception, and they cannot tell you what will happen in your case. Only a lawyer who has read your paperwork can do that.
Common Questions
Questions people actually ask us
Straight answers, each one written to stand on its own. Every page on this site carries its own set for the charge it covers.
Should I call a Madison OWI lawyer immediately after an arrest?
Yes. OWI cases can involve court dates, license deadlines, refusal issues, BAC testing, insurance consequences, and employment concerns. Early legal review helps protect options before the case moves further.
Does Avena Law Office handle DUI searches even though Wisconsin uses OWI?
Yes. Wisconsin generally uses the term OWI, but many people search DUI, OUI, drunk driving lawyer, or drunk driving attorney. Avena Law Office handles Wisconsin OWI defense for those search terms.
Do juveniles need a criminal defense attorney?
Yes. Juvenile cases can still create serious consequences for a young person's education, record, reputation, and future. Early legal guidance can help protect long-term opportunities.
What should parents do if their child is charged with a crime?
Do not let the child discuss the facts of the case with police, school officials, or others without legal advice. Save all paperwork and contact a defense attorney quickly.
Can student or juvenile charges be dismissed or reduced?
Sometimes. Outcomes depend on the facts, evidence, police conduct, prior record, age, and available diversion or negotiation options. Every case requires individual review.
Where is Avena Law Office located?
Avena Law Office, LLC is located at 1402 Greenway Cross, Suite 202, Madison, WI 53713.
Does Avena Law Office serve counties outside Madison?
Yes. Avena Law Office serves clients in Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Grant, Green, Green Lake, Iowa, Jefferson, Lafayette, Marquette, Richland, Rock, and Sauk counties.
Talk to Avena Law Office Today
If you, your child, a student, or a family member has been arrested for OWI, cited for DUI, accused of refusal, or charged with a crime in Madison or Dane County, take action now.
This website is attorney advertising. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Contacting the firm does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Local Defense, Local Courts
Your case is heard here, by people who work here
Avena Law Office, LLC practises out of one Madison office and appears in the courthouses of Dane, Columbia, and the surrounding South-Central Wisconsin counties. Knowing the courtroom, the prosecutors, and how a county actually handles a charge is not a detail. It changes what can be negotiated.
Free Consultation
Contact a Madison OWI Lawyer and Criminal Defense Attorney
If you were arrested for OWI, cited for DUI, accused of refusal, or charged with a criminal offense, send a confidential message now.
Juvenile & Student Defense
Focused on protecting records, education, and future opportunities.
Fast Case Review
Get clear next steps before the case moves further.
Direct Attorney Strategy
Learn what options may be available for your defense.
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