Cost of a Lawyer for Reckless Driving in Virginia

Reckless Driving in Virginia Lawyer Cost

What Will a Reckless Driving Lawyer in Virginia Cost?

As you can imagine, there are a wide variety of fees that attorneys charge for Virginia reckless driving. There are very good reasons for those differences. Ultimately, you will need to decide what level of service and quality you would like for your reckless driving case.

Reckless driving is not a simple speeding ticket. The range of punishment for Virginia reckless driving is:

up to a $2500 fine
up to 6 month license suspension
up to one year in jail (jail is usually reserved for high speed cases over 90 mph)
potential employment consequences
insurance premium increases
6 demerit points on the DMV record
permanent criminal record

I say all that to say that the stakes are high. Sometimes clients need to come to court and sometimes they don't. These cases are VERY fact specific to each unique case. That said, here are some guiding principles on lawyer fee costs for reckless driving in Virginia. In addition, there are some helpful tips to watch out for.

Factors that Impact Reckless Driving Lawyer Cost

The biggest two factors that determine what fee I charge are:

How much time do I expect to spend on this particular case?
How serious is the case?

How Much Time Do I Expect to Spend on This Reckless Driving Case?

Every attorney bills for their time. If they quote you a fee that is too low, it tells you they are not going to spend any time on your case. The reason is that no lawyer works for free.

Conversely, if a lawyer quotes a REALLY high fee, then there is a good chance they are sub-contracting the work out to another lawyer. So you need to watch out for both LOW fees and HIGH fees.

I find that run of the mill reckless driving by speed cases with excellent driving records take the least amount of time. So a simple 81 mph in a 70 zone with a perfect driving record for ten years is about as easy as you can get in MOST courts. Even these cases usually take 2-3 hours from start to finish, and any good traffic lawyer will spend time talking to the prosecutor/officer and check for legal defenses with the radar calibration and ticket.

Reckless driving accident cases where death or personal injury are involved, or high speed reckless driving cases at 90 mph and up are on the other end of the spectrum. Yes, 9 mph turns a simple 81 mph case into a very challenging case. Many judges in Virginia will not reduce at 90 mph and those who do require more work. Some judges even give JAIL at 90 mph.

So the first consideration in any reckless driving attorney fee is based on how much time is involved in the case.

How Serious is the Case?

Reckless driving lawyer cost and fees are related to how serious the case is. The reason is that there is a direct relationship (with all good lawyers) between how serious a case is and the amount of time they spend on your case. Serious cases involve more work.

Judges and prosecutors will look closer at accidents and high speed cases at 90 mph and up than they would at 81 mph in a 70 with a perfect record. That means that the likelihood of spending more time increases exponentially. Cases get continued more often. There are more meetings with the prosecutor. More time has to be paid preparing the case for trial. These factors all play a role in the Virginia reckless driving lawyer cost.

What to Look Out for When Selecting a Lawyer

When selecting a Virginia reckless driving lawyer, consider the following:

Do you want an experienced traffic lawyer, or are you content with a new lawyer handling your case?

PRO TIP: law firms have a sneaky way of marketing experience, but hiring new lawyers
if you want an experienced traffic lawyer, make the firm guarantee who is going to court for you

Does the law firm specialize in Virginia traffic law, or do they do criminal law?

Criminal lawyers often make the WORST traffic lawyers for several reasons

they don't know traffic law, only criminal law
they take it lightly because it is "just a traffic ticket"

Does the firm send advertising letters?

potential clients tell me all the time they hire me because WE DON'T send letters
they say it is like AMBULANCE CHASING
many letter writers have a history of malpractice or discipline and their reputation with the court is not good

Does the firm spend time giving you a free consultation, and are you talking with a lawyer?

If you cannot speak to the actual lawyer, HANG UP
it is borderline unethical for a non attorney to get into the facts of your case because they are getting close to giving legal advice

How important is it for you to:

avoid a criminal misdemeanor
avoid the severe consequences of reckless driving

Do you want an expert?

When you call someone, ask them what the Virginia law is for certificates of calibration for RADAR

Answer: 46.2-882
If they cannot answer this easy question, they don't know much traffic law

I would estimate 99 percent of lawyers in traffic court CANNOT answer this easy question

The bottom line is that when you consider Virginia reckless driving cost, you need to consider what you are looking for. Do you want someone who knows what they are doing? Are you content with a new lawyer handling your case? Are you ok with the law firm passing your case off to someone else in another firm?