How a Lawyer Can Help Fight a Traffic Ticket

If you are fighting a ticket that could cost between $100 to $300, it makes little sense to hire a lawyer who will charge you upwards of $200 per hour whether you win or lose. There are two big exceptions to this go-it- alone rule; seriously consider hiring a lawyer when:

1. Losing your license is a serious possibility, particularly if you need a car to do or get to your work, or
2. Going to jail or paying a huge fine are possibilities. This could happen if you are charged with driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, reckless driving, or hit-and-run.

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CAUTION: Get help with serious charges. Even if you’ve had experience in civil court—in a divorce, name change, or a simple lawsuit— it often isn’t wise to go it entirely alone when charged with a serious criminal offense, such as drunk driving. It is true that lawyers are not the only people on earth who can learn to handle a relatively straightforward trial. But it is also true that a lawyer with lots of experience in traffic court is almost sure to be a lot further up the learning curve than you are. Even if you decide it doesn’t pay to retain a lawyer to represent you, paying for a couple of “lawyer coaching” sessions by someone who can help fine-tune your strategy can be an excellent idea.

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What Lawyers Can Do

There are three basic ways a lawyer can help when you are charged with a traffic violation.

1. Consultation and Advice

The lawyer can listen to the details of your situation, analyze your legal position, and give you the pros and cons of several alternate courses of action. Ideally, the lawyer won’t just give you conclusions, but enough good information to allow you to make your own informed choices. This kind of coaching is the least expensive, because it involves only an office call—or sometimes even a phone call. Depending on where you live, a charge of more than $100 for a half-hour consultation or $200 for an hour might be excessive. Find out the fee before you go in.

2. Negotiation

For more serious charges you may be able to use the lawyer’s skill and experience to help you negotiate with the prosecuting agency. Often a lawyer’s previous relationships with the prosecution and experience with plea bargaining can be helpful in limiting the price you might have to pay in terms of jail and penalties.

3. Representing You in Court

If you face driving-under-the-influence charges or even an ordinary ticket that could result in your license being suspended, a lawyer may be able to present a more effective defense in court than you could muster on your own. Similarly, an experienced lawyer may help you put on a more effective presentation at a motor vehicles bureau license-suspension hearing. Aside from the fact that the lawyer probably knows more than you do about effective trial tactics, it’s important to understand that if the consequences of losing are truly serious, you will likely be under significant pressure and stress. This helps explain why inexperienced defendants often tend to make two big mistakes. First, they are disorganized, with the result that their version of the facts is rarely clearly presented. Second, they often focus the court’s attention on reams of insignificant details, forgetting to concentrate on the one or two key points that can influence the decision. In contrast, a lawyer well schooled in traffic court knows which defenses work and which do not, and how to make a presentation in court.

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TIP: Find the right lawyer and don’t pay a big up-front fee. People are most scared right after they receive a serious ticket. Knowing this, some lawyers immediately ask for as much as a $5,000 retainer to be paid in advance in a serious case like drunk driving. Months later, they often advise their client to plead guilty—a result the client could have achieved on his or her own at no cost. To prevent this from happening to you, follow these rules:

• Never hire a lawyer in a hurry. Nothing serious will happen in your case for at least a week or two after you are cited (and by posting bail or pleading not guilty you can further slow things down), so take your time.Make sure you know what you are charged with and have analyzed your chances of winning in court.
• Make sure you hire one of the relatively few lawyers who have lots of experience in traffic court.
• Don’t pay or agree to pay a big fee. Instead, pay the lawyer a small amount to help you thoroughly evaluate your case. Then, much later, armed with all the facts, decide if you want to pay more to hire the lawyer to represent you in court or represent yourself.

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Getting the Most Out of Your Lawyer

In addition to finding competent and conscientious lawyers in the first place, your best approach is to pay the lawyer based on work produced, not an up-front retainer. A pay-as-you-go approach will give your lawyer an incentive to keep hustling and make it easier for you to politely but firmly fire the lawyer if you decide to end your relationship—something you have the right to do at any time.

Firing Your Lawyer

You have the right to fire your lawyer if you decide you have chosen the wrong one. You have the right to do this at any time— whether or not your bill is fully paid. It is best to do this in writing. If you fax or email your letter, follow up with an original copy and keep one copy for yourself. No need to say more than, “I no longer wish you to represent me.” 

Excerpted and adapted from Beat Your Ticket: Go to Court & Win, by David W. Brown (Nolo).