How to compare traffic attorney fees
Attorneys set fees for traffic court in different ways, and that can make it hard to compare. Fees aren’t the only factor you should consider in choosing an attorney, but it’s important to understand the legal fees as part of the total cost. Here are some questions you may want to ask a traffic attorney.
Is your fee per ticket, per incident, or per appearance?
Traffic court is inconvenient, but it can be simple. Even if an officer writes several tickets at the same time, they can be dealt with in court all at the same time in most circumstances. In one recent case, I worked with a prosecutor for a client who had gotten three tickets totaling 12 points out of one incident; we agreed to a much lighter sentence that didn’t result in any points at all.
An attorney who charges per ticket would have earned a much higher fee, without necessarily doing more work than if the defendant had gotten just one citation. For most traffic incidents, only one court appearance is required, and that means that charging per incident or per appearance will usually keep the cost down.
Do you have any added fees?
There are sometimes extra charges, above and beyond the basic traffic legal fee. An attorney might charge mileage or postage, or have an hourly rate for paralegal work or attorney phone time beyond a certain number of minutes. There may be a rush fee if you hire the attorney at the last minute, and it’s worth checking the date on the ticket and not waiting until the last minute.
On the Selby Legal traffic retainer, the price is described as a “minimum fee” because it’s based on a trial not being needed, for example. I’m always happy to answer questions about what the language in that document means, and any other traffic attorney should be willing to do the same.
How much will the fine be?
No attorney can predict the future, but getting a range of the possible fine isn’t that difficult because it’s all laid out in the law. Any traffic attorney should be able to explain the worst-case scenario (such as if you decide to plead guilty, for example). During my free consultation, if I have a sense of what kind of deal I can work out with the prosecutor in your case, I can also let you know the fine range for that charge.
Knowledge is power
Don’t be afraid to ask questions when you’re looking for a traffic attorney. At Selby Legal, once you upload your traffic ticket, that’s part of the service.