Legal Fees: How Much Will This Cost?

Legal Fee and Retainer Information

Our fee for professionally handling your DUI case includes our top rated DUI lawyer representation and handling of your case.  Our pricing includes all of the following— really, ten services in one reasonable flat fee package:

1. We can Appear In Court For You: In misdemeanor cases, the law allows an attorney to appear for clients, thus avoiding the hassle of waiting in a crowded courtroom all morning, and allowing you to return to work, school, or your family. In fact, up to a trial, everything in most misdemeanor cases can be done through an attorney.  The law allows an attorney to appear on your behalf, as your agent, just as though you were present.
2. You will be Informed, Empowered, and Educated: We also make it a priority to keep you informed and educated about your case. We educate you at each step of the process as to your choices, your risks, and the potential benefits of each potential strategy, as they develop, along with any costs (such as the use of expert witnesses in a DUI case, or retesting of the blood test in your DUI case). You will never feel as though you don’t know what is going on, know what is coming up next in your case, or that you are not in control of what happens in your case. You can always promptly reach your Orange County DUI Lawyer through their cell phone, or by texting, or by email. Our office always tries to immediately answer your questions, so you’ll never be left without a way to get answers or contact your attorney directly. That leaves you empowered at all times by knowing what you face, and what your options are.
3. Every Fact in Your Case will be Reviewed or Investigated: Your fee also includes a full factual review of all defenses in your matter. We typically share a redacted (censored) DUI police report in your case with you, as allowed by law, so that you can review the evidence against you, and can, with your attorney, do a full factual review. That might mean that we show that the credibility of officers or other witnesses is called into question. Or, it may help establish a defense of factual impossibility or alibi.
4. Every Possible Legal Defense in Your Case Will Be Scrutinized: Your fee also includes a full review, line-by-line, of all legal defenses in a DUI case, including police actions and misconduct. We will review your case for lack of probable cause, invalid or unsupported search or arrest warrants, illegal or invalid arrest procedures, failure to give Miranda warnings, improper testing of blood or improper testing of breath, uncalibrated or unmaintained blood or breath testing devices, coerced confessions or admissions, or charges filed that are unsupported by evidence.  We will advise you on all options available as we discover legal issues that affect your case.
5. Research, Writing, and Arguing Motions are Included: Your fee also includes all necessary motions for your case, for example, motions to challenge a search warrant or an arrest warrant, a motion to suppress evidence, which in turn may cause a dismissal of your DUI case, motions to compel the prosecution to turn over crucial discovery or other evidence,motions to challenge the charges filed in an information or complaint, motions to strike priors, motions to exclude evidence that is prejudicial,motions to move venue in your case, or motions to recover property taken or seized by the police. Most attorneys charge extra, typically an expensive hourly rate, for motions, but we believe this is crucial and include them in our services at no additional cost.
6. We fight to save your License from the DMV: For clients facing a DUI or drunken driving charge, we also handle the DMV hearing in a DUI case for clients, and we fight for your license in person. Typically, the DMV’s punishment for some clients is even harsher than the court’s, since the DMV will actually suspend your driving privilege for four months or longer if you fail to request a hearing or do not successfully defend it. At the hearing, the D.M.V. has the burden of proof as to all the issues. Our attorneys, who are all very experienced in handling DUI DMV hearings, have won DMV hearings, avoiding a license from being suspended.
7. We will bring motions to lower bail or seek an “O.R.” (own recognizance) release, to get your loved one out sooner and at a lower price, saving you money.  We can also do work to find you a bail bondsman or bail company to arrange bail for a DUI case.
8. We will do everything we can to avoid jail, by making arguments and doing research to seek, and argue for, alternative sentencing, when appropriate, to avoid actual jail time. That may include the SCRAM program,  doing community service for your DUI in Orange County, attending a court approved drug or alcohol program, (submitting to rehabilitation treatment or a rehab program), Cal-Trans work, Work Furlough, Weekend Jail, Private Jail, House Arrest or Electronic Confinement, or the Orange County DUI Court, after first arguing to reduce the case to the lowest sentence available by law.
9. We will investigate your case and gather evidence supporting your defenses. This may include having your blood alcohol test redone by a private lab; having DNA tests or fingerprint tests done, photographing the scene of the arrest or citation, obtaining witness statements; finding documents and witnesses that may help the defense – everything possible to present to the prosecutor or judge to argue innocence or reduce the sentence by showing mitigating factors.
10. Negotiating with the prosecutor, whether the District Attorney or City Attorney, or their Supervisor, or directly with the Judge and the prosecutor, to present the best legal defenses for your case.

You are welcome to call us or email any of us, anytime, to discuss your case and the ways that we can help you.

What discounts do you have?

We have discounts for students, and for active military, or veterans.  Members of Karma International also are eligible for a discount on any of our services or fees.

How do We Get Started?

If you decide to retain our attorney for your case, please take the following steps to establish an attorney-client relationship with us:

1. Sign our Attorney Client Fee Agreement;
2. Return the signed contract with your payment  You may mail or fax or bring in in-person the signed retainer contract (Attorney-Client Agreement), along with payment of the initial attorney’s fee to our law office.
3. Receive confirmation and discuss our plans to start working on your case immediately.  As soon as we receive your signed contract and payment of the retainer fee, we confirm receipt, and our attorney will contact you and begin to work on your DUI case. The completed fee agreement, signed by both you and our attorney indicates the establishment of an attorney-client relationship.  Note: We become your lawyer ONLY AFTER we have agreed to represent you as a client. No attorney-client relationship has been established until the retainer contract is completed and signed by both you and our attorney.

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