Traffic Ticket Outcomes and Personal Responsibility
When you hire an attorney to help with a traffic ticket, you are, in a normal scenario, paying for two things – the convenience of not having to go to court yourself, and the experience and expertise of the attorney to be able to get you the best plea deal available for that ticket in that county under that circumstances.
What some people think they are doing is buying a dismissal of the ticket. That is not the case. Of course, if the ticket warrants dismissal under those facts, then that might be the outcome, but it won’t be because of what you paid. It will be because that’s what should happen with that ticket under those circumstances. There is, generally, no buying of “justice” in the counties in which I practice.
What some people also fail to appreciate is that sometimes in order to get the best outcome they are going to have to jump through some hoops. So if your attorney tells you to do a driving school by a certain date, or provide some documentation for the best outcome, then you should do that. If you fail to do that, for whatever reason, then you can likely expect an inferior outcome.
In other words, if your attorney tells you to do a driving school, and you don’t, and you get an inferior outcome, that’s your fault, not the attorney’s. If the attorney tells you to get him a copy of your renewed registration and you don’t, and your ticket doesn’t get dismissed, that’s your fault, not the attorney’s. If the attorney tells you to do a certain amount of community service and get it documented in a certain way, and you don’t, and you get an inferior outcome, that’s your fault, not the attorney’s.
To put it plainly, you have to remember that hiring an attorney does not absolve you of the responsibility of acting like a competent adult. That’s not what you’re paying for.
So if you hire an attorney for a traffic ticket, do yourself a favor and follow his or her instructions. Otherwise, you’re probably wasting your money paying for advice that you’re not going to follow.
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