Dan Cronin is a licensed substance abuse counselor who has successfully advocated for alternative sentencing for thousands of people charged with DUI and drug offenses throughout the United States and Canada . He has been the Director of Counseling for the National Hockey League ( NHL ) since 1994 and the Program Director for the Substance Abuse Program for Major League Soccer ( MLS ) since 1999.

What does a Substance Abuse Expert do?

I work with criminal defense lawyers in an effort to convince prosecutors and judges to allow for alternative sentences, so people get treatment instead of jail or prison.  This means working closely with the defense lawyer to make sure that we are united in our goals for the case; meeting with the client and doing an analysis; writing reports for the court that explain what level of treatment is appropriate in a given case; making court appearances when necessary; finding appropriate locations for treatment; and ensuring the client makes it to treatment safely.  I also have an obligation to provide progress reports to the court, perhaps to suggest early termination of mental health services, where warranted.  I also provide assistance and support to the client’s family, as they typically have a lot of questions about the process. 

Wow, that sounds like a fulltime job and then some! How can you be of service to a DUI defense lawyer in particular?

Two ways:  In some cases it is helpful to provide clinical documentation that a person is an alcoholic or is addicted to other drugs so that the court will allow treatment as an alternative to jail.  California law allows time spent in a residential facility, such as rehab or sober living, to count just like jail time and keeps a person from ever going back to experience the horrors of custody.

Another important way that I can be helpful to a DUI defense lawyer is in the opposite situation.  When a client is not an alcoholic or drug addict, the court or prosecutor needs to know this.  The result is that they feel secure in the fact that there will not be another offense, and they will be comfortable offering a better settlement in the case.

Why is it important to show that someone is not an alcoholic?

One fear for both prosecutors and judges is letting someone off the hook who turns around, goes out and gets arrested again or, even worse, injures someone in a later DUI accident.  That could be a career-ender.  That’s why they rely on licensed professionals like me to provide an expert opinion about whether someone is suitable for treatment, and more importantly, whether they are likely to succeed there.  They also depend on me to determine whether that person is or is not an alcoholic and whether he or she is likely to run into these same kinds of problems in the future.

You clearly have a lot of knowledge in this area, since so many professional sports teams look to you for guidance.  What does that credibility mean for your clients in court?

With my level of expertise, I can determine whether outpatient treatment may be appropriate, so that my clients don’t even need to disrupt their work or home lives.  For others, some type of inpatient treatment is best.  But whatever the case may be, the prosecutor and the judge will look to me as a relatively unbiased expert.  This is one of the services that I provide to all my clients, whether they are professional athletes or not.

One of the reasons that the court values a substance abuse counselor’s opinion is that they know we will recommend the correct level of care for our clients and their families, and we will provide accountability to the courts.  My working hand-in-hand with an experienced DUI defense lawyer makes for an unbeatable defense team.