Learn Me: Traffic Lawyers

How do I find one? I assume it has to be local to the area where I received the citation (about an hour away from home). Basically, I got a fine for $200, no big deal, but my speed of 71 in a 45, recently finished renovations of a large highway; is enough to earn me 5 points in Pennsylvania. Basically, aside from cattleshoots, most everyone was doing 65, and I happened to be passing when he tagged me, which I assumed he did by pointing the gun behind his head because I saw him well behind his field of view. Officer was a State Trooper working for a local.

I've been driving for 14 years and never had a driving infraction worthy of points. My record is practically clean of any at-fault driving incidents.

I have no problems paying maybe $500 to a lawyer to make the points go away, is this realistic?

Lawyers dont advertise that they do traffic work because there is little money in it. There is however a lot of money in Drunk Driving cases so they all advertise that.
Look for a Drunk Driving lawyer. These are the guys who go to traffic court.

You want to look for a Criminal defense lawyer that specializes in traffic offenses and usually DUIs. As for cost, that's hard to say, you'll have to shop around.

It's what my FIL is, so they are out there.

as long as the lawyer is local to PA.. you are fine. He might charge you for travel, but a pa lawyer can handle cases anywhere in pa (or further abroad, I am not sure how it exactly works). And really.. all they do is walk in to the PA, they work a deal to turn your points inducing infraction into something stupid like "failure to obey an officer" and you pay a fine and go home.

Traffic infractions means the municipality has to share the "profits" with the state.. a civil fine they get to keep in whole

Haha I've had a couple tickets and for all of them I've gotten like 4-10 packets in the mail asking to represent me. Guess they look up your public record and send ya something cause they all had the offence and court date and such listed already.

Everytime I've gotten a speeding ticket, the next day I have abunch of flyers in my mailbox from traffic lawyers.

Edit: I'm guessing you got ticketed in the perpetually under construction section of Rt 30 between Lancaster and York.

mad_machine wrote: as long as the lawyer is local to PA.. you are fine. He might charge you for travel, but a pa lawyer can handle cases anywhere in pa (or further abroad, I am not sure how it exactly works). And really.. all they do is walk in to the PA, they work a deal to turn your points inducing infraction into something stupid like "failure to obey an officer" and you pay a fine and go home. Traffic infractions means the municipality has to share the "profits" with the state.. a civil fine they get to keep in whole

Yea, they will plead it down to "Failure to obey a traffic control device." That's a zero point offence. The penalties are the same as the speeding though. You can request the court hearing and attempt to plead it down yourself.

They just want the money.

Option A: Pay attorney to show up before arraignment and say to the DA: "Can you drop the points and reduce the fine?" At which point, they'll more than likely drop the points, not reduce the fine, but call it "court costs" instead. State gets paid. Atty gets paid.

Option B: Do the same thing the lawyer would've done and save yourself the atty's fees.

Also: State Patrol shows up 80-90% of the time in GA. Local cops are more like 60-70%. Cop doesn't show? Case is dismissed.

In local court, you can usually speak to the DA beforehand. In the big city, you'll have to request a "pre-trial consultation" with the cop, where he/she will more than likely knock the number down.

Disclaimer: I'm not giving you legal advice. I do have a 100% success rate with option B, in spite of 80% of people here saying either "Hire an attorney" or "Just pay it."

Did the offense happen in PA, or you just live in PA?

PA State Police never miss a court date, in my experience.

I doubt as an individual you can successfully plead down to the "traffic control device" ticket. They probably figure if you are going that route, then you don't have any real defense. The time to plead for that is when you are pulled over. An attorney may have better success at the court level.

If it happened out of state, that's a different story. I know a guy in VA. A lot of times, other states the ticket won't show up in PA even though the state participates in 'reciprocity'. I got a bogus stop sign violation in Maine that never showed up here.

+1 to poopshovel. It's a money grab, give them the money and most of the problems go away.

Happened in PA on Rt. 202 coming west from KOP to Exton, I think he got me right around Malvern. Officer name is specifically listed as "TPR", so he is no doubt a stater.

I'm not going to mess around with trying to plead my case or any of that crap. I'll either pay a laywer to handle it for me and go about business as usual (again, no infractions for 14 years), or just take the points and slow my ass down for two years.

Maybe its time for that van I've been wanting...

Don't know about PA. I have pleaded not guilt in TX myself since I learned I could do that in college. I have gotten tickets dismissed, deferred judication, or turned into a fine (no record).

In reply to PHeller:

Get the van. They are free passes to drive as fast as you want.

I've been showing up in court for every ticket that I've had for years. (Not that I've had tons of them ).

If your going to go it alone, here's my advice, wear a really nice suit, use good posture and speak the king's English. You will stand out from all the other unwashed doofuses in the courtroom, and may even be mistaken for a lawyer (happened to me twice ). I've had a couple of obviously bogus tickets tossed out, and everything else has been knocked down to no points fines.

OTOH, for that many points I'd want professional representation.

My last ticket (2nd overall) was reduced from 70-55 to 64-55 by the Asst DA as soon as I walked through the metal detector. He asked if my record was clean, I said yes - first ticket in 20 years, was told to pay reduced fine and court costs. I was in and out in 10 minutes.

My first ticket was much bigger, hired an attorney, plead guilty to a lower speed in exchange for a month of community service. I would have lost my license for that one and at 18, that scared the crap out of me. Picking up trash for a month with DUIers was really eye opening.

When are you guys going to get smart and get rid of PENDOT completely? In 20 miles of their E36 M3ty state they managed to make a one day trip a 3 day excursion.

If you can find an attorney that deals with that city's attorney often, it'll be all over before you realize it. That is all you need.

Any layer can contact the local authorities for you. Usually get It reduced to a parking ticket or something. Ask me how I know.

PHeller wrote: Happened in PA on Rt. 202 coming west from KOP to Exton, I think he got me right around Malvern. Officer name is specifically listed as "TPR", so he is no doubt a stater. I'm not going to mess around with trying to plead my case or any of that crap. I'll either pay a laywer to handle it for me and go about business as usual (again, no infractions for 14 years), or just take the points and slow my ass down for two years. Maybe its time for that van I've been wanting...

That section is shooting fish in a barrel for them. My last ticket was there exiting 202S onto 30W. He pulled up right behind me and clocked me then hit the lights. Picked off a Mustang right after he finished my ticket.

I can PM you a lawyer's contact info if you want.

-Rob

HappyAndy wrote: I've been showing up in court for every ticket that I've had for years. (Not that I've had tons of them ). If your going to go it alone, here's my advice, wear a really nice suit, use good posture and speak the king's English. You will stand out from all the other unwashed doofuses in the courtroom, and may even be mistaken for a lawyer (happened to me twice ). I've had a couple of obviously bogus tickets tossed out, and everything else has been knocked down to no points fines. OTOH, for that many points I'd want professional representation.

Andy, I've always mistaken you for a lawyer.

Rob_Mopar wrote: I can PM you a lawyer's contact info if you want. -Rob

Rob, please do.

In reply to Rob_Mopar:

HappyAndy, Esq. Does have a nice ring, doesn't it.

Any idea what he clocked you with? Radar or Lidar?

PHeller wrote:

Rob_Mopar wrote: I can PM you a lawyer's contact info if you want. -Rob

Rob, please do.

Just sent it via PM.

Handheld Radar. Again, I find it hard to believe he hit me over his shoulder, as I was 45º behind him when I slammed on the brakes, and by the time I was at 90º (or parallel with his car) I was travelling at 55 or so.