Hiring an attorney as soon as you receive a speeding ticketmaximizes your chances of a favorable outcome. An attorney can work to reduce your speeding offense to a lesser moving or improper equipment violation. This can avoid the creation of a permanent criminal record, which would occur if you were charged with a misdemeanor speeding offense.
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Dec 19, 2019 · As mentioned, it is not necessary, but it could be a great help to your case to hire a lawyer. Most people hire lawyers for more serious accusations rather than just a speeding ticket. However, those who are wrongfully accused may hire a lawyer to either get the case thrown out, lower the penalties, or even seek compensation.
The main reason why you should consider hiring an lawyer if you get a speeding ticket is you should do your best to protect your driving record. Remember that driving is a privilege, not a right and if you aren't careful you can lose that privilege which can make other parts of your life, such as getting to and from work and earning a living extremely difficult.
May 21, 2021 · Hiring an attorney as soon as you receive a speeding ticket maximizes your chances of a favorable outcome. An attorney can work to reduce your speeding offense to a lesser moving or improper equipment violation. This can avoid the creation of a permanent criminal record, which would occur if you were charged with a misdemeanor speeding offense.
Apr 19, 2022 · Lawyers can get anyone out of having to pay for a speeding ticket by finding minute errors that the average person wouldn’t even notice. So if you are about to hire a lawyer, the odds of having the traffic ticket dismissed at an initial court appearance are much higher. Lawyers Can Negotiate. If there aren’t any obvious errors after the police officer has carefully written out …
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As mentioned, it is not necessary, but it could be a great help to your case to hire a lawyer. Most people hire lawyers for more serious accusations rather than just a speeding ticket. However, those who are wrongfully accused may hire a lawyer to either get the case thrown out, lower the penalties, or even seek compensation.
A local attorney is always the best option for small cases such as speeding tickets. Those who specialize in traffic or other related fields of law or work regularly with cases such as yours are also the ones who should be considered first. Make sure you do all the necessary vetting and research before you hire a lawyer.
3. How a Lawyer Can Help You 1 Negotiate – Lawyers are master negotiators since it’s a big part of their job. For more serious cases, your lawyer could cut your jail time in half or even get you off on probation/community service. For traffic tickets, it’s more likely that they will try to get the case thrown out or a reduced fine. 2 Consultation – Some lawyers offer a consultation at a reduced or even free price (if you have benefits). They can give you an honest and unbiased opinion about your case, and analyze several different approaches and outcomes for you to make an informed final decision. 3 Representation – Lastly, they and you can decide to move forward with the case, in which they will represent you in a court of law.
5. Extra Tips Before Hiring a Lawyer 1 Take your time – Always take your time. Not many good decisions in life are made in a hurry. It takes a while to process your case, so take the time to do some research. 2 Familiarize yourself with your offense – Once you know exactly what you are being charged with, you can better construct an action plan for court. 3 Experience matters – Just from a statistics standpoint, a more experienced lawyer will do a better job at getting you out of trouble. 4 Don’t pay anything but a consultation fee at first – Don’t jump the gun and offer up anything but a consultation fee. Chances are you might need to consult more than one lawyer and evaluate their approaches and how you feel, you don’t want to exhaust your budget before then. 5 Go local – A lawyer who is familiar with the local system is best. 6 Get involved – Many people just leave it up to the lawyer to do his or her job. However, being thoroughly involved in your case gives you a heads up when you feel like it’s going in a direction that is not in your favor. Giving you the chance to readily pull the plug. After all, it’s your fate and you have the final say.
Most people hire lawyers for more serious accusations rather than just a speeding ticket . However, those who are wrongfully accused may hire a lawyer to either get the case thrown out, lower the penalties, or even seek compensation. 2.
Unless you have a lawyer on retainer, they typically charge an hourly rate. This could really add up if the case takes a while to resolve, on top of the cost of your ticket. For smaller issues, you could be charged at a flat rate. The price of the lawyer depends on the lawyer themselves and the difficulty of your case. Either way, get ready for a setback.
Consultation – Some lawyers offer a consultation at a reduced or even free price (if you have benefits). They can give you an honest and unbiased opinion about your case, and analyze several different approaches and outcomes for you to make an informed final decision.
In addition to the fine, you will most likely earn demerit points on your license, which stay on there for three years.
The main reason why you should consider hiring an lawyer if you get a speeding ticket is you should do your best to protect your driving record.
Almost every state in the country uses some kind of point system. In New York, for example, that point system lists speeding tickets at between 3 and 11 points. Get 12 points on your license within 18 months and you’re looking at a suspension. Beat your ticket, however, and you’re looking at a point-free license.
Lawyers Often Have Relationships With Judges or Prosecutors. One of the best ways to win a case is to be friends with the judge and the prosecutor. Unless you’ve spent a lot of time in the courthouse, odds are you won’t have that kind of relationship with them.
Nobody likes to take time off work, spend hours reading the law, and wait even more hours in a courthouse just to lose their case. Attorneys can do all of that for you and are significantly more likely to get a successful outcome.
Prices vary between law firms, but most only cost a fraction of the ticket value. Some lawyers use fixed prices to help ensure that everybody is treated fairly. Others offer prices based on the difficulty of the case and how likely they are to win.
The WinIt app helps connect you with many of the local attorneys in your area, not just the ones you can find on Google. These lawyers come with plenty of reviews from satisfied (or dissatisfied) clients, so you know exactly what you’re getting into.
It generally depends on the circumstances. For many people, hiring an attorney for a traffic ticket is definitely worth the cost. However, in some situations, a driver is better off not spending the extra money to retain a lawyer. Here are some factors you might want to consider before making the call.
If you decide to fight a traffic ticket, you'll generally have to go to court at least twice. But if you hire an attorney, you typically won't have to go to court at all. In other words, your attorney can represent you in court without you being present.
One of the problems with representing yourself is the lack of experience and legal knowledge. The average person just doesn't know what the best courses of action are in a given case. Experienced traffic attorneys have the best idea of what tactics and options are available for obtaining good results. And, it's not all legal knowledge. Attorneys who spend lots of time in traffic court are familiar with the tendencies of the different judges and sometimes of the law enforcement officers who write the tickets. This local knowledge can prove valuable in deciding how to defend against a ticket.
For instance, sometimes traffic violation points can be avoided by negotiating a moving violation ticket down to a non-moving violation.
Traffic lawyers with lots of trial experience are far more likely to win at trial than the average Joe or Jane. Simply put, attorneys who have spent countless hours in a courtroom and have knowledge of the law know what to focus on at trial. For non-lawyers, it's easy to get off track.
In some circumstances, hiring a traffic attorney clearly isn't worth the expense. For example, if you're eligible for traffic school and don't have a reasonable chance of beating your ticket, it's probably best to forgo hiring an attorney. Generally, you can sign up for traffic school without even going to court, so there isn't much benefit of having legal representation—you can just do it yourself.
Commercial driver's license (CDL) holders drive for a living and are subject to stricter rules than other drivers. Under these rules, certain traffic violations can lead to CDL revocation. So, the stakes in traffic court for commercial drivers can be very high. With so much on the line, it would make sense to get an attorney involved.
If you are facing a reckless driving charge or other misdemeanor, it might be possible to plead down to a traffic citation. However, few people have the skills or knowledge to do this effectively. Don’t expect the government to help, either. Instead, they might scare you into believing that you will face the maximum penalties.
Under Virginia Code § 46.2-862, a person can be charged with reckless driving if they were caught going 20 miles per hour above the posted speed limit, or driving 85 miles per hour. This is a misdemeanor offense that carries the possibility of jail, fines, and other penalties. A misdemeanor is also a permanent criminal record, which means that you will need to disclose it any time you apply for a job or try to rent an apartment.
Receiving a speeding violation can be a stressful and overwhelming experience, and it can be tempting to want to just plead guilty, pay the fines, and get it over with (assuming you are financially able to do so). However, it is important to consider the long-term repercussions of accepting the violation as charged.
A violation of basic speeding law may appear as a Class B Misdemeanor, carrying up to six months in jail and a maximum $1,000 fine, whereas, a violation of absolute limits may appear as a Class C Misdemeanor, carrying up to 15 days in jail and a maximum of $750 in fines. An experienced lawyer can work with the prosecutor to help you avoid or minimize any jail time. If you are facing possible jail time for a speeding violation, it is important that you contact an attorney as soon as possible to determine the best course of action. In many cases, when you get a lawyer for a speeding ticket, they will be able to negotiate an agreement for you to pay a slightly increased fine and court costs in exchange for pleading to a reduced non-moving violation which carries no jail time.
Under Missouri’s point system, pleading guilty to a speeding ticket can add up to three points to your driving record, and the charge will remain on your record for five years. The more points you accumulate on your driving record, the higher your risk of having your license suspended if you receive an additional ticket.
A second suspension will last 60 days, and a third suspension will last 90 days. If you accumulate 12+ points in 12 months, 18+ points in 24 months, or 24+ points in 36 months, you will lose your license for a year. It is advantageous to have as few points on your record as possible.
Having points on your driving record is likely to increase your insurance premiums. Insurance companies review your driving records before issuing quotes and having even just one speeding violation is likely to cause significantly higher premiums than a record without a speeding violation. In many circumstances, a lawyer is able to help keep your record clean, which will prevent your insurance premiums from increasing.
Aimee Gromowsky is formerly an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for Jackson County and currently a private practice lawyer. Ms. Gromowsky handles thousands of cases in Kansas City, Missouri area courts and was honored with a “Best in Bar” award in 2007 and 2008 from the Kansas City Business Journal. As a Kansas City traffic lawyer, Aimee is determined to represent you in your case by providing exceptional legal counsel and service.