Quote:
Originally Posted by two_wheel_mayhem
I understand your plight, but am starting to doubt your credibility.
$75 buys about 15 minutes of a decent lawyer's time. When I say decent I mean worthy of fighting a traffic violation, not someone who defends criminal cases because we all know an attorney of this nature would not be bothered by such chump change nonsense.
Ive dealt with a few lawyers in my time, and they are quick to want to make "deals" that you could obtain yourself by talking to the prosecutor yourself.
Like some lawyer is gonna go to trial for you for 75 bucks and makes your problems go away 100% of the time, with no costs over and above his fee of $75?
Either he's your brother, or you are just being a blowhard.
|
Or the third option -- you don't have a clue what you're talking about. A traffic lawyer goes to the ARRAIGNMENT. The jury trial (if you want to push it that far) is significantly more expensive.
Both of the lawyers I use for traffic offenses charge $75 per violation. For that amount, they set the initial court date and show up with you (usually they have about 20 or so people scheduled for the same session, so they only have to go once). At that session (also known as the arraignment) they talk to the prosecutor about the charges for each person they are representing that day. Often, if the charge is minor, or if the cop doesn't show, etc., the prosecutor drop the charges.
If that doesn't happen, then my lawyer will push for any one of the more favorable outcomes that do not include the ticket going on my record.
Now, if the 'favorable outcome' is for you to simply pay the fine and you still don't agree that you should do that, he will set a date for a jury trial. That starts at $600-$700. Most of his cases have no need to go that far.
Apparently, you've done no research on the subject. I did my research with the first ticket I got when I got back stateside. Since then, I've always hired a lawyer. And as I previously stated, since I returned stateside, the only ticket that appears on my record was from *before* I returned.
It never ceases to amaze me how the number of people who claim "I know my rights" to a cop is often almost the same number of people who assume they know how lawyers work.