The Real Cost of Ticket Defense

viernes, 30 de septiembre de 2011

How much is your time worth? $20.00 per hour? $100 per hour? $200 per hour?: If you are planning to fight that traffic ticket on your own, please think about these factors.

You absolutely cannot be late for your hearing at court so you must plan for the time it takes to dress in a professional manner, leave your home or place of employment early so that you can travel to the courthouse, the traffic you will encounter along on the way, the time it takes to find parking, the time to get past the courthouse security check, the time it takes to find the specific courtroom, the time it takes for the judge to call your case, the time it takes to pay fines or court costs that the judge may impose on you, the time it takes to retrieve any final judgment paperwork so that you have that information for your records, the time it takes to leave the court house, pay for parking and travel to your place of employment or your home.

Door to door, you could be looking at 2-3 hours on average.  And there are many factors that could lengthen that time.

That is just your time…  when you factor in the price of fuel, the lost opportunity cost (lost business opportunities at your place of employment, the cost of irritating your boss, the cost of not being able to do what you wanted to do during those 2-3 hours), your laundry bill for the professional clothing you wore to court, the price of parking (which can be over $10)  that ticket may cost you A LOT OF YOUR HARD-EARNED MONEY! (even if you convince the judge to dismiss your case)

Its MUCH easier, MUCH more efficient and MUCH more cost effective to pay an experienced and qualified attorney to appear on your behalf. 

Do you really want to pay that traffic ticket and possibly get a conviction on your record, points assessed to your driver’s license and have your insurance rates increase?