Advertising – it’s a great way to reach people when it works, but there is such a thing as overkill.  Such is the case with the volumes of commercials you see broadcast throughout South Florida for traffic ticket attorneys, as well as other attorneys.  With all of these commercials, it’s rather surprising that there are those who don’t know that there is a specialty area within the legal profession pertaining to traffic tickets.  Of those who do know about us, they often don’t know exactly what it is that we can do to help them or more importantly, why they should hire a specialized traffic ticket attorney.  Unfortunately, many of those cutesy commercials rely upon appealing to all the wrong senses of their target audience.  Which is more important, being able to sing along with a commercial or hiring an experienced South Florida traffic ticket attorney that can answer the many questions you may have about what we do and how it helps you?

Although this blog may sound like it’s headed in a self-serving direction, keep reading.  My objective is to answer those many questions that you may have about when you should hire a traffic ticket attorney, why you should hire one, and how to go about hiring one.  Yes, I am a traffic ticket attorney.  I would like the opportunity to represent you if I can help you, but the fact of the matter is, I have a lot of clients.  My goal here is simply to offer guidance in making sound decisions when hiring an attorney to help you with your South Florida traffic citation.  Regardless of whether you hire a specialized traffic ticket attorney or another type of attorney, here are some of the questions you should ask him or her:

What other types of law do you practice?

There are some attorneys’ offices that are willing to take on most legal issues just to get your business.  They are less concerned with having a special area of knowledge than they are about making money.  This is not the kind of lawyer you want to represent you.  I don’t fault anyone for trying to make a buck, but you need a South Florida traffic ticket attorney who focuses solely on traffic tickets.  I strongly recommend hiring a South Florida traffic ticket attorney because it helps to not only have an attorney who understands Florida traffic statutes, but also one who is familiar with the traffic complexities of our particular area.  Having a traffic ticket attorney that knows the roadways, traffic conditions, and the court system in South Florida gives him better opportunity to represent you successfully.  If the attorney you have spoken with does family law AND traffic tickets or is one from outside our region, you may want to keep looking.

If you do not win my case, what traffic school should I go to?

Posing this question to an attorney can lead to a bit of a sticky situation.  This is because some traffic schools here in South Florida are owned by traffic ticket attorneys who have a major reason to steer you in that direction.  Even if they don’t get their client’s ticket taken care of, they still get paid.  Then referring them to their own driving school insures they get paid yet again.  They have a vested interest in NOT getting your traffic ticket dismissed.  This is quite an incentive to lose your case in court, right?  Always ask an attorney that you care considering to represent you if he or his spouse has a driving school.  If the answer is yes, you need to move on to a different attorney.

How Long Have You Been a Traffic Ticket Attorney?

Just passed the bar?  Keep moving forward.  Even if he has been practicing law for some time, but just started handling traffic tickets, you don’t want to be a statistic in his learning curve.  With the overwhelming number of traffic ticket attorneys in South Florida, there is no need for you take the chance that your case with be a learning tool for an inexperienced attorney.  It may help him, but it could cost you a great deal.  There are so many other attorneys who have been practicing for a long time that new attorneys can learn from.  There are a few attorneys in South Florida who have been handling traffic citations for years – call one of them instead.

What’s this going to cost me?

The best answer I can give to this question is, “That depends.”  Since there is such a proliferation of traffic ticket attorneys in South Florida, we all charge about the same fee – $69.  If you are charged any more than that, you are probably being taken advantage of.  Anyone who charges you less than that is probably inexperienced.  This is why my answer to this question is, “That depends.”  Getting a cut-rate, inexperienced lawyer can cost you a lot more in the long run by you having to pay fines, insurance rate increases, and driving school fees.  The few dollars you may save at the outset would hardly be equitable if a novice traffic ticket attorney doesn’t know this area of law very well.

After doing this job for almost two decades, I have watched a lot of people try to defend themselves in traffic court, often without much success.  Although I support the idea behind it, there are just far too many variables with a traffic citation and South Florida traffic courts to make it worth trying to save $69.  The cost of hiring a traffic ticket attorney is insignificant when you consider the time you may lose out of your day by going to court, the time you may lose by going to driving school, and the concrete financial losses you could face if you fail in your attempt to represent yourself in court.  If, however, your traffic citation is one that won’t carry any points, by all means, contact the clerk of court to pay your fine and move on.  It’s when the potential financial loss and the loss of your valuable time are at stake that a good traffic ticket attorney is your best option.

We at the Traffic Ticket Team have over 50 years of combined experience in navigating the South Florida court system.  We have handled over 1,000,000 traffic citations and have a 99% success rate in helping people either get their ticket dismissed or dealt with in a manner so that our clients end up with no points on their license.  If you evaluate what you have read here and realize that a good traffic ticket attorney is what you need, please give us a call for your free consultation at (954) 967-9888.  We look forward to helping you.