Skip to main content

Hire Personal Injury Attorneys Durham NC

Written by csupport on . Posted in North Carolina Law Blog.

Should you hire an attorney for your personal injury claim? Well, every case is different and unique, but generally, I would say the answer is “yes.”

What Personal Injury Attorneys Durham NC Do to Help Process Claims

Why should you hire an attorney? Think of it this way: You might be handy around the house and can fix things here and there. But if you have a problem with your toilet, wouldn’t it be better to hire a professional to help you, instead of ending up with a messier, smellier, more expensive problem?

Hiring an attorney is like hiring any other professional to do a job. As a personal injury attorney, I know how to help guide you through your claims process and help you avoid mistakes that can cost you and your family in the long run. I know how to intelligently value your claim, how to document your damages, and how to argue to get them.

Moreover, an attorney represents the legitimate threat of a lawsuit to the insurance companies. People who represent themselves tend not to file lawsuits, and when they do they tend to royally screw them up. But attorneys know when and how to litigate, which can cost an insurance company money in the long run. Don’t you think they take that into consideration when they are negotiating with us?

Sure there are some cases where you might be able to bear the burden by yourself. But doesn’t it make sense to get a professional opinion on that before you get too deep?

I handle personal injury claims all over the state of North Carolina, so no matter where your accident occurred in North Carolina, or where you live in North Carolina, I might be able to help. Call me at 919-929-2992.

A Traffic Ticket Attorney Durham NC Can Help Prevent Soaring Insurance Rates

Written by csupport on . Posted in North Carolina Law Blog.

What will a traffic ticket conviction do to your insurance rates? It can increase them in a big, big way.

Convictions for NC moving violations result in the imposition of insurance points, in most cases. For every insurance point you get your rates increase as follows:

POINT % INCREASE
1 30%
2 45%
3 60%
4 80%
5 110%

You do not want me to keep going. Suffice it to say that it gets worse the more you get. And remember, these increases are for THREE YEARS. That’s a long time to bear the brunt of the mistake of paying off a ticket to avoid hiring an attorney.

So call me and find out if I can help keep your insurance rates low. I represent people with traffic tickets in Orange, Chatham, Alamance, Durham, and Wake Counties. Call me at 919-929-2992.

Consult Jeffrey Howard, Traffic Ticket Attorney Durham


What is a PJC Durham NC?

Written by csupport on . Posted in North Carolina Law Blog.

What is a PJC? Well, let’s start at the beginning:

PJC stands for Prayer for Judgment Continued. Still isn’t clear, though, right? So one word at a time…

Prayer = request
Judgment = the decision of the court
Continued = postponed

So a PJC is a request that the decision of the court be postponed. That’s easy enough. But what does that do for you? Well, to be more specific it’s a request that the judge/court indefinitely (in most cases) postpone a judgment, meaning it “happens” but it is never technically entered and therefore doesn’t count against you. But as always, it’s not as simple as that.
For insurance point purposes, you only get ONE PJC per HOUSEHOLD for a three year period. For DMV purposes, you only get TWO PJCs per PERSON for a five year period.
Still not clear? That’s exactly why you shouldn’t use it. Call me for more details and I’ll see what I can do to help.
I represent people with traffic tickets in Orange, Chatham, Alamance, Durham, and Wake Counties. Call me at 919-929-2992.

Get Your Traffic Tickets Dismissed

Written by csupport on . Posted in North Carolina Law Blog.

Can you get your ticket dismissed? Probably not.

I have been practicing law and handling traffic tickets since 2001. I have seen tickets dismissed, but that is exceedingly rare. Normally there are only three reasons tickets are dismissed:
1) Compliance: If you haven’t complied with a regulatory requirement (registration, insurance, etc.) but then show compliance, or if you are in a wreck and show proof of insurance coverage and handling of the claim, that might get you a dismissal.
2) Legal defects: If the officer who wrote the ticket left out a vital legal requirement of the ticket and it can’t be addressed via amendment, that might get you a dismissal. These are extremely rare, but they can happen.
3) Extreme cases: I once saw an ADA dismiss a ticket where a lady produced a birth certificate for her child which was born a few minutes after her ticket was issued. These are even more rare.
What does all of that mean? It means that unless you have a very special and particular situation, you probably aren’t getting your ticket dismissed. The days of the sneaky backroom deals are done, and tickets don’t just get “taken care of.” But call me and I can tell you what I think I can do for your ticket. 919-929-2992.
I represent people with traffic tickets in Orange, Chatham, Alamance, Durham, and Wake Counties.

Should I Hire an Attorney or a Traffic Ticket Lawyer Durham NC?

Written by csupport on . Posted in North Carolina Law Blog.

Should you hire an attorney for your traffic ticket? Generally speaking, I would say that the answer is more often than not “probably.”

Here’s what I mean:
Paying off a ticket is almost always bad. Paying off a ticket is the same thing as pleading guilty. Pleading guilty gets you a conviction, and a conviction will likely get you insurance points (meaning your insurance rates will increase for three years) and DMV points (meaning your license could get revoked). Sometimes it’s OK to pay a ticket off, but you should only do so after talking to an attorney; the reputable ones will tell you when it’s the best thing to do.
So if you’re not paying it off then you have to either a) show up in court yourself, or b) hire an attorney to go for you.
First, your time is valuable, so why waste your time in court when you can pay someone to go for you.
Second, even if you feel that your time isn’t that valuable, what kind of outcome will you seek in court on your own? Do you know what to ask for? Do you know how it will affect your license/insurance? Do you know how to get what you want? An experienced traffic attorney will know all of these things and can save you lots of money in the long run.
I represent people with traffic tickets in Orange, Chatham, Alamance, Durham, and Wake Counties.
So call me and find out what I can do to help. 919-929-2992.

Chatham County North Carolina Traffic Tickets – What to expect, generally speaking…

Written by jeffreyhoward on . Posted in North Carolina Law Blog.

Chatham County North Carolina Traffic Tickets – What to expect, generally speaking…

The county my office is in, and the county I live in, is Orange County, North Carolina.  Orange and Chatham County make up the legal entity known as the 15B Judicial District of North Carolina.  What that means is from an administrative standpoint there is one elected District Attorney for that district (for both counties) and one Chief Resident Superior Court Judge (for both counties).

If you get a ticket in Chatham County, you’re going to be asked to show up in court in Pittsboro more than likely.  They can have court in Siler City, but that’s rare.  What do you do?

Continue reading

Alamance County North Carolina Traffic Tickets – What to expect, generally speaking…

Written by jeffreyhoward on . Posted in North Carolina Law Blog.

The county my office is in, and the county I live in, is Orange County, North Carolina.  Right next to that fine county, just to the west of us, is another fine county – Alamance.  The county seat is Graham, but like my county, the biggest town isn’t the county seat; Burlington is the biggest town in Alamance, but court happens in Graham.  Go figure.

If you get a ticket in this Alamance County, you’re going to be asked to show up in court in either Graham.  What do you do?

Well, you can always show up and see what happens.  From previous posts you’ve seen how an attorney might help you, but just as a reminder, hiring an attorney will mean:

  • You don’t have to go to court (assuming it’s just a speeding ticket or other waivable offense),
  • you don’t have to miss work and income (which might be a whole day!),
  • you don’t have to deal with the uncertainty and stress of being in court,
  • you get the benefit of having an attorney who knows what kind of reduction would be best for you given your charges and your driving record.

What are those benefits worth?  In my opinion, every penny you pay for them, generally.

Why waste your valuable time handling your own ticket?

Alamance County policies are a bit different from Orange and Chatham.   If you have a speeding ticket under 20 mph over the limit and a clean driving record, we can normally get it reduced to a 9 over, which won’t get you any insurance points as long as your record stays clean for three years.  The DA does not offer improper equipment reductions, so that’s not an option in this county (nor in Wake County, while you’re asking).

If your speeding ticket is worse than that, your need for an attorney is probably greater, as you’ll want to get the best reduction possible in light of the DMV/insurance point consequences, and that will require a thorough and knowledgeable reading of your driving record, something you probably just don’t know how to do because you don’t have the training.  That’s not anything negative about you, it’s just a skillset you don’t have.  I can’t dunk, and I’m OK with that, so it’s sort of the same thing. So you should call an attorney and see what you should expect.

If you have an Alamance County North Carolina speeding ticket call and attorney.  Call me!  919-929-2992.

…and this is why my profession exists.

Written by jeffreyhoward on . Posted in North Carolina Law Blog.

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20130416/NEWS01/304160055/Wrongful-death-lawsuit-filed-behalf-4-Wisconsin-residents-killed-65-crash

I recently came across a conversation on FB wherein someone was attempting to differentiate between “justice and gain”  She said that justice had to do with enforcing contracts or rights, essentially, but personal injury claims were all about gain.  She went on to say that people should just learn that “bad things happen” and should get over it.

I would invite her to read the story at the link above.  Would it be all about gain if someone made this company – who is allowing its drivers to drive in excess of the legal time allowed – pay to help compensate this family’s heirs for the loss of their support system, for the college educations that won’t be paid for, the graduations that won’t be attended,  for the weddings that will be missed, the birthdays that won’t be celebrated, the memories that won’t be created.  In the end, isn’t this about enforcing rights, too?

For the person who thinks that these claims are all about gain, I hope that her family isn’t the next victim, or else she  may find out just how wrong she is.

Chatham County, North Carolina Traffic Tickets…What to expect, generally speaking

Written by jeffreyhoward on . Posted in North Carolina Law Blog.

The county my office is in, and the county I live in, is Orange County, North Carolina.  That count, along with Chatham County is known as Judicial District 15B.  That means that the elected DA for Orange County is the same as the one for Chatham County, therefore the policies for handling traffic tickets in Chatham is very, very similar to that of Orange.  Orange is my home county, and since Chatham is in the same district, I’m almost a Chatham County local.  Pittsboro is the county seat, but Siler City is also a large community in the center of the county.

If you get a ticket in this county, you’re going to be asked to show up in court in either Pittsboro or Siler City.  What do you do?

Well, you can always show up and see what happens.  Most adults are perfectly capable of navigating the system, but is that the wisest thing to do?  That depends…

By hiring an attorney to show up for you:

  • You don’t have to go to court (assuming it’s just a speeding ticket or other waivable offense),
  • you don’t have to miss work and income (which might be a whole day!),
  • you don’t have to deal with the uncertainty and stress of being in court,
  • you get the benefit of having an attorney who knows what kind of reduction would be best for you given your charges and your driving record.

What are those benefits worth?  In my opinion, every penny you pay for them, generally.

In Chatham County if you have a speeding ticket under 20 mph over the limit and a clean driving record, we can normally get it reduced to a “non-moving violation” which won’t get you any DMV or insurance points.  Do you know if you can get that, how to ask for it, what it’s called?  If not, perhaps you should get an attorney.

If your speeding ticket is worse than that, your need for an attorney is probably greater, as you’ll want to get the best reduction possible in light of the DMV/insurance point consequences, and that will require a thorough and knowledgeable reading of your driving record, something you probably just don’t know how to do.  So you should call an attorney and see what you should expect.

If you have an Chatham County North Carolina speeding ticket call an attorney.  Call me!  919-929-2992.

Orange County North Carolina Traffic Tickets – What to expect, generally speaking…

Written by jeffreyhoward on . Posted in North Carolina Law Blog.

The county my office is in, and the county I live in, is Orange County, North Carolina.  The county seat is Hillsborough, but the most famous town in the county is certainly Chapel Hill, home of the University of North Carolina, the oldest state university in the country, which happens to have an OK sports team or two.

If you get a ticket in Orange County, you’re going to be asked to show up in court in either Hillsborough or Chapel Hill.  What do you do?

Well, you can always show up and see what happens.  Most adults are perfectly capable of navigating the system, but is that the wisest thing to do?  That depends…

By hiring an attorney to show up for you:

  • You don’t have to go to court (assuming it’s just a speeding ticket or other waivable offense),
  • you don’t have to miss work and income (which might be a whole day!),
  • you don’t have to deal with the uncertainty and stress of being in court,
  • you get the benefit of having an attorney who knows what kind of reduction would be best for you given your charges and your driving record.

What are those benefits worth?  In my opinion, every penny you pay for them, generally.

In Orange County if you have a speeding ticket under 20 mph over the limit and a clean driving record, we can normally get it reduced to a “non-moving violation” which won’t get you any DMV or insurance points.  Do you know if you can get that, how to ask for it, what it’s called?  If not, perhaps you should get an attorney.

If your speeding ticket is worse than that, your need for an attorney is probably greater, as you’ll want to get the best reduction possible in light of the DMV/insurance point consequences, and that will require a thorough and knowledgeable reading of your driving record, something you probably just don’t know how to do.  So you should call an attorney and see what you should expect.

If you have an Orange County North Carolina speeding ticket call an attorney.  Call me!  919-929-2992.