How Quickly Can I Expect A Response If I Hire You?

If you hire me, you would call me directly on my cell phone, which I would give you the first time we talk. I call clients back from my cell phone. I don’t hide that number. In fact, that number is 015-531-3500. Sometimes if you call me, if I am in a trial, at a hearing, or doing something with the family, I might have the other attorney who shares the office with me or another attorney who works closely with me, call you back, to make sure you get a call back right away. Then, one of us would go over what’s going on and answer all your questions. It’s almost always the same day unless the call comes in very late at night. If the call comes in early in the morning, you’re going to hear back from us almost always that morning at some point.

Sometimes, what happens is I will be in court and a call will come in. You might talk to the office or my service, and I’ll get an email. While I’m in court if someone’s trying to reach me and if I’m able to, I will try and text someone back, if they leave their cell number, that I will call them as soon as I’m done with the court, or as soon as I can. We try to be on top of that, because when someone calls, its because they have very urgent, important questions that need to be answered, and I want to be able to get back to someone as quickly as possible.

Will I Receive A Regular Status Update? What Would It include?

Typically, there is a lot of downtime where we’re waiting for the DA’s office to get us video, records on machines, or blood testing information. There can be weeks where we’re not getting any new information. If you have questions and are not hearing from us, and wondering if there’ve been any updates, you are always welcome to contact the office. That’s always encouraged. But when I go to court, typically what I try and do is contact a client before I leave the courthouse, if possible. Sometimes, I can do it later in the day, and update them on what happened in court, what the new court date is, and if there is anything that they need to do, similar with the DMV hearing.

Do You Bill By The Hour Or Do You Charge A Flat Fee For DUI Cases?

If I bill by the hour, it would be a lot more expensive for my clients. Clients will know what it’s going to cost. I do a payment plan for a lot of my clients, and there are no hidden costs or fees. The clients know exactly what their case is going to be. Now, every case is different—the amount of work that goes into each case is determined based on our initial talks with clients, and the experience of having done this for over 31 years and handled thousands of DUI cases. You will know what the costs are. If there are any additional costs, we never spend our client’s money without asking them first and getting their permission.

I let you know if I think that something else is needed, and then you’d have to give the okay, but we’d fully discuss it before incurring any additional costs. Typically what someone’s paying is what he or she agreed to pay upfront, and rarely anymore, unless the case went to jury trial. Then it gets a lot more expensive.

What Are Some Additional Legal Expenses That One Can Expect to incur In A DUI Case?

The first additional expense that you may have is if it goes to a jury trial. Then it gets extremely expensive. That number is hard to estimate because it depends on if we need expert witnesses, forensic toxicologists, and people to testify about field sobriety testing, medical defenses, or doctors. There are a lot of different things that can come into a jury trial. It’s hard to say exactly what those expenses would be. But if you are convicted, typically your expenses are around $2,000. We can do this in a long-term payment plan with most courts for the fine, and then a DUI school, which is typically $600 to $700. It could be more, depending on the county, and they usually let you make some payment while the schools are going on.

That’s for a first offense DUI school with a 3 month, 32-hour school. Other than that, sometimes there is a small fee for the booking into the jail or something like that. Of course, if there are accidents, you are dealing with insurance and potential costs there, which can be a deductible, or depending on what your insurance status is, sometimes more.

For more information on Expecting A Response In a DUI Case, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (415) 523-7878 today.