Need recommendation for traffic ticket/accident Lawyer

[repoman]

My 21yr old son was in a fender bender, insurance is taking care of it, except the highway patrol guy gave him two tickets (failure to use due care, and resident with non-NV registration)... fines totaling $2500 !!!! yeah right, not going to happen. I think we need some help from a lawyer, we're in Henderson, anybody have a recommendation for a traffic ticket lawyer? Thanks.

 

[BW64]

Yeah always best to re register in this town. Never know when some jackwad is going to run into you!!

BW

 

[repoman]

To futher explain.. I feel somewhat responsible, I moved here last year, my kid came out with my to help me move and get settled in, he did not intend to stay long term, but I was hoping he would, and suggested he get a NV DL.. he left his car registered in CA... so that was the mismatch. I should have never recommended he get a NV drivers license, it just created problems. Shouldn't be too hard to explain to a judge, in fact, my kid is already back in CA. The fender bender happened in July. $2500 fine is just completely laughable.

 

[BW64]

Yeah they get carried away with the fine amounts. I had one cop stop me & tell me I committed a $3000 dangerous driving offense for changing lanes without a signal!!

BW

 

[djthumper]

The largest part of the fine is probably the non-NV registration. If the car is in his name and he has a NV license then I don't know how much you are going to get it knocked down.

 

[Harley]

Highly doubtful they will lower the fine. Getting a lawyer will be just throwing money away. Myself and others I know have had violations reduced but never the fine amount.
Probably best to just suck it up and take your medicine.

 

[Felid'Maximus]

Highly doubtful they will lower the fine. Getting a lawyer will be just throwing money away. Myself and others I know have had violations reduced but never the fine amount.
Probably best to just suck it up and take your medicine.

IMO it is best never just put money in the mail with a ticket. At least show up to court. If you plead guilty in court, the judge is practically guaranteed to reduce the fine somewhat, at least from what I've seen in northern Nevada traffic circus courts. If you plead not guilty, the DA is likely to offer a deal and if you have a defense you could win.

Reduced violations will also save you money in the long run. Maybe not for the registration issue, but for the moving violation. If your deal lowers the violation but not the fine, the cost of the fine plus attorney fees is probably miniscule compared to your insurance rate hike over the next several years.

My biannual insurance went rate went from $354 to $459 for a 1 point violation... the last violation I had on my record was 9 years ago.

FWIW I talked to the DA before hiring an attorney and I was able to get the same deal my attorney got for me. So I pretty much did waste the attorney fees. But you never know for sure what an attorney might be able to do for you unless you know the judge, prosecutor, and the law really well.

 

[Harley]

IMO it is best never just put money in the mail with a ticket. At least show up to court. If you plead guilty in court, the judge is practically guaranteed to reduce the fine somewhat, at least from what I've seen in northern Nevada traffic circus courts.

I think its a different animal down here. From what Ive seen they don't give much slack in the way of fines. I was even told once by the city of Henderson that they rarely reduce the fine amounts.

Not only that but say you get a lawyer and by chance ya get the fine reduced, ya still owe the lawyer so in the end how much are you really saving? A GOOD lawyer will not be cheap.

 

[Felid'Maximus]

I think its a different animal down here. From what Ive seen they don't give much slack in the way of fines. I was even told once by the city of Henderson that they rarely reduce the fine amounts.

Not only that but say you get a lawyer and by chance ya get the fine reduced, ya still owe the lawyer so in the end how much are you really saving? A GOOD lawyer will not be cheap.

Well, I paid $500 for a lawyer. I don't know if it was a good or a bad lawyer but it wasn't the cheapest lawyer in town.

According to my insurance company's info booklet, a 4 point violation would increase my premium by 70% whereas a 1 point violation increases my premium by 24%.
1.7*354=$601
1.24*354=$439.
$601-439=$162 increase in 6 month insurance cost.
$162*2= $324 more per year if you didn't get it reduced.

So in 2 years of paying for insurance, the lawyer fee will pay for itself assuming the lawyer can drop a 4 point violation to a 1 point violation with my insurance carrier. Of course, if you can get the same reduction without paying for a lawyer, all the better. I was hoping my lawyer could get me something better than what I could get for myself but it didn't work out that way for me.

A lawyer can also save you the expense of showing up in court for pre-trial appearances, which is probably a day or two worth of wages if you can even convince your employer to let you go.

 

[Harley]

Well, I paid $500 for a lawyer. I don't know if it was a good or a bad lawyer but it wasn't the cheapest lawyer in town.

According to my insurance company's info booklet, a 4 point violation would increase my premium by 70% whereas a 1 point violation increases my premium by 24%.
1.7*354=$601
1.24*354=$439.
$601-439=$162 increase in 6 month insurance cost.
$162*2= $324 more per year if you didn't get it reduced.

So in 2 years of paying for insurance, the lawyer fee will pay for itself assuming the lawyer can drop a 4 point violation to a 1 point violation with my insurance carrier. Of course, if you can get the same reduction without paying for a lawyer, all the better. I was hoping my lawyer could get me something better than what I could get for myself but it didn't work out that way for me.

What was your ticket for? I don’t think a registration issue would fall under the same category for affecting insurance rates. I could be wrong though...

 

[Felid'Maximus]

He was charged for "failure to use due care". That's a moving violation which is probably going to be worth 2 points if not more. If that means the same thing as "careless driving" it is a 6 point violation, and an 84% premium increase according to my insurance manual. The fine amount listed on the internet is double the fine I paid for my ticket.

And given that an accident was involved, I bet it could have a greater effect on insurance than a normal moving violation. My violation did not involve any cars, and was in an airport commercial vehicle lot in the early AM where the only cars present were literally my car and the police car. My ticket was for making an illegal shortcut through the empty lot.

 

[Harley]

Having a NV DL and CA registration is a BIG no no. They really frown on that so I doubt they would give much sympathy in that situation.

Hell, they even have a hotline to call and turn people in for that. Somebody once narc’d me out for having out of state registration and a constable showed up at my door.

 

[MAC702]

Forum member Laws & Guns MIGHT offer that service. Or he might have a personal recommendation and would know attorneys that are also pro-freedom and more deserving of business.

I also recommend going to court in person, even if it means another road trip. In fact, if he's back in CA, and comes back with a CA driver's license, the story now elicits far more sympathy from the judge.

Wear a suit to court and address the judge as "Sir" or "Your Honor." You'd be amazed how many sloven idiots you'll be there with and will stand head and shoulders above the crowd. If he's in the mood to give leniency to a few, it's easy to pick out who they'll be.

My personal feelings are mixed. I loathe ex-Cali residents here that mooch our freedoms and lower (for now) taxes and stuff, yet milk their CA IDs and plates as long as they can.

 

[Felid'Maximus]

Having a NV DL and CA registration is a BIG no no. They really frown on that so I doubt they would give much sympathy in that situation.

Hell, they even have a hotline to call and turn people in for that. Somebody once narc’d me out for having out of state registration and a constable showed up at my door.

He was charged for two offenses, not just one. One was a moving violation, and one was the registration issue.

 

[Harley]

He was charged for two offenses, not just one.

Yeah, I’m bettin on he’s screwed!

 

[repoman]

Appreciate feedback so far; I'm 55yrs old, and have a lot of experience in traffic court as I'm a lifelong, avid motorcyclist. Beating a speeding ticket is childs play... this is more complex, being multi-state, and procedural in nature, and I have no idea what kind of wiggle room is possible. Looks like my kid can take traffic school to avoid the points related to the "failure to use due care", so that's all good. He will have a CA drivers license shortly, and I agree its best he come back here and appear before a judge (it helps he's extremely presentable and well spoken), so with a little legal consulation, we'll throw ourselves to the mercy of the court and see what happens.

 

[Felid'Maximus]

My understanding is that traffic school can only be used to eliminate 3 points, so if it is a 6 point offense that is still 3 points.

 

[Fogie]

Craig P. Kenny..702-380-2800..my boy used him twice, quite a while ago. Did great. Oh..my Pop needed him recently, still great.

 

[lawsandguns]

I’m glad to talk to you about it. The bigger fine regarding registration would typically be reduced significantly if you fix the situation. Normally, that would mean registering the car here.

If he gets a CA license soon and shows residency there, he may get a similar break.

I don’t do a lot of traffic tickets, but I’m glad to see if I can help. We may be able to send down the paperwork and avoid an appearance. If we do go to court, that is where it starts to get expensive as lawyers often bill out at over $300 an hour.

Call Kevin at 702-641-9900, if you would like to discuss it.

 

[lawsandguns]

Craig Kenny’s office does a lot of this type of work and it may be a cheaper route. They take a stack of tickets down to negotiate instead of a lawyer going down to court for just one case. I’d go down and charge you $350 for an hour. They go down for that same hour and handle 20 cases and charge each guy $50.