well first off it is nice to see an office. you can judge a lot by the office itself. is his office neat? if not, he may be unorganized and could very easily not do the best job possible for u. also, when u meet the attorney face-to-face it gives u an understanding of what type of person they are, and what they can do for u. its like thos 1-900-sex-4-u lines, the person may sound like a hot shot but they could always be a 400lb bald woman on the other line.

also, most attorneys should be willing to meet u up half way if anything to sign u up. ppl forget that 90 percent of an attorneys job is to market himself, so they most often dont have a problem meeting potential clients over coffee if they see a possibility in gaining something.

i only say this cuz i work for a firm myself. i personally never refuse to meet clients out of the office, as with the type of law i do there is usually at least 1K+ per client in it, so half an hour over coffee isnt too bad.

just dont get pressured into signing a retainter, as once u do ur pretty much locked in with that firm. personally i say try and choose a bigger firm. ask how many attorneys work at the firm, the amount of staff per lawyer, the caseload ur particular attorney carries, the amount of cases that particular attorney has handled in the past. make sure any fee u pay is a one-time fee for the entire litigation of ur ticket, and it is not conditional on any further appearances they may need to perform on your behalf.

hope this helped u out, and good luck.

 

I'll just say lawers work by connections most of the time. One of my high school teachers was an ex lawyer, and whenever he got a ticket, he'd walk past the BAR talk to the prosecutor (who he knew in some way, or they knew of him) and they would cut a deal where he payed them and no ticket goes on his record. Judges are going to be more friendly to someone who hires a lawyer than someone who tries to fight it on their own. There are ways to fight it on your own but not guarenteed results. If you get a good lawyer it is pretty certain they will get something for you. It's still going to cost you, but they get rid of the important things such as points and insurance hikes.

 

Here's my advice to you.

Before you get a lawyer (or even talk to one), why not fight the ticket on your own? At least here in CA, you can do a trial by declaration, which is essentially putting down on paper why the cop was wrong for giving you a citation. If the cop doesn't respond to your declaration, the charges are dismissed. If the cop does respond, you can still choose to appear in person for a "live" trial, or at that time choose to contact a lawyer.

Just a thought. Good luck with it.

 

1250 seems expensive.

I had two choices from the same firm. A guy that sounded a little unsure for 750 or the woman who had never lost a case in the county I needed a traffic lawyer in for 800. Needless to say I paid the 800$ and won easily.

 

Get a lawyer, your situation is very bad. Let's say right now i'm in court for something i needed a lawyer for. I have a feeling my lawyer will get things reduced becuase of technicalities in my actul ticket etc. Yes you can fight yourself, but your lawyer will have experience and knowledge on their side. I could look at a ticket and say what he can but there are small detials you won't know unless you have a reason to.

Did you know that you have to be breathalyzed within 4hrs of an arrest/accident? Just a tid bit of info i've learned and there are others as well. Anyhow drop the cash and be done with it.

MY total so far is 750 retainer, 250 case review, now add another 350 for my trial since case review was not offering anything good. So for 1400 i'm happy with what i think will happen. Now yes that's how much i spent to go to acapulco last yr and then Cabo this yr, but whateve you live and hopefully LEARN