My question is, what if the cop shows up with the paperwork, and he shows up with a lawyer?
What is his defense going to be? Odds are he'll be stuck with at least a court fee on top of his lawyer fees and that's if he doesn't get stuck with the ticket. The only benefit I could see coming out of this is that his insurance rates may not be affected.....MAY.
But I guess thats enough for some people. I myself would just pay the ticket and then go to traffic class or whatever so my insurance rates don't go up.
Unfortunately this is all speculative because it soley depends on how this works in your specific area. If you are in some hick town and you try to fight it yourself, you will be *****. If you are in a big city your chances are better. But for instance, lets say your speeding ticket is $175, and you have a clean record. Lets say your likely result is this:
1. $40 for school
2. $65 for court costs
3. $80 for the fine reduced
4. no points.
Your final result is $185 + time going to court+time for the driving school + parking at the court house for hours (maybe 10 bucks) because they are always behind, and you have to come back once you complete the driving school and show proof to the clerk of the court.
If you hire a lawyer for $100 (and lets say he is decent at his job, and he gets you:
1. no points
2. no school
3. no fine
4. court costs are assessed though for $65
end result= $165 you have paid and you saved your time by not going to court, not paying for courthouse parking, not wasting your time with driving school (IIRC in FL you cant do driving school more than 3x in a 5 year period)
So at the end of this very very generic hypo you have saved $20. However, this hypo can vary is so many ways, like the lawyer might get it totally dismissed, or he might barely do anything besides getting you out of points and school, but on the flip side...going in yourself you might not get the fine reduced at all, and you would pay the fine + court costs, and maybe school...you never know what can happen.
