Phoenix DUI Lawyer Blog

Phoenix DUI Defense Attorneys

• Arizona DUI Defense Lawyers are Competitive - Shop Around! Some attorneys charge significantly higher or lower than others. Some have charged the same fees for years. Not because they are less competent or effective Arizona DUI lawyers, but because they wish to remain or become more competitive. Some of best Arizona Criminal Defense Attorneys lower their fees consistent with a struggling economy.
  
• Negotiate! Most Arizona Criminal & DUI Defense Attorney's Fees are negotiable. But if you wish to be taken seriously, you must be fair and reasonable. The experienced Arizona Criminal & DUI attorneys know how much work and the estimated amount of hours it will take to defend your case. If the price is unaffordable, offer to pay a majority of the fee up front. A fair amount would be 85% to 90% of their quote. In return request they forgive the remaining amount. Many attorneys will consider this in good faith.
  
• Ask Questions! Make sure you understand and agree to the terms of the fee agreement, including the cost of pre-trial and trial services if needed.
  
• Keep your original Documents! Make sure you leave with the originals, and the attorney gets copies of the documents you brought to the consultation, unless there is good reason they need an original documents.
  
• Get a Copy of the Fee Agreement! Make sure you take a copy of the Fee Agreement with you when you leave the Attorney's Office.
  
• Understand the Payment Plan Terms! Most Arizona Criminal & DUI Attorneys charge a flat and allow you to make payment arrangements, and paid in full, prior to completion of your case. Make sure you understand and agree, and that it is included in the Fee Agreement.
  
• Press for a Stop-Loss! If you choose an attorney who charges by the hour, ask the attorney if He or She can commit to a maximum ceiling amount. If agreed, make sure this is included in the written and signed fee agreement.
  
• Price isn't everything! Remember, price is just one of many facts you should consider before making your choice of which Arizona DUI Attorney to hire. Other important factors include education, training, experience, and effectiveness in defense and experience in litigation, competence, communication, respect, referral by someone you trust. Most important is your comfort level. Decide who you feel will provide the best defense; work the hardest to get you the best outcome in your case.
  

If you or someone you know has been charged with an Arizona DUI or other Criminal offense contact the Law Office of James Novak. Call now for your Free Consultation at (480) 413-1499, with experienced Phoenix Criminal and DUI Defense Attorney and James Novak (Former Prosecutor). Valley-wide Service.

Phoenix Arizona DUI Attorneys

You were charged with an Arizona DUI. Reality sets in. You need an Arizona DUI Lawyer. First question on your mind "How much is this going to cost me?". You get two quotes from Phoenix, Arizona Attorneys. One is for $1,500.00 and the other is for $15,000.00. Why is this? Here are seven facts you should know about the cost of Arizona DUI legal representation.

• No Arizona Attorney governing entities dictate how much a Criminal and DUI Attorney can charge their clients for legal representation (Unless it is a participating attorney in a pre-paid group plan of some type through an employer or other organization for which you belong).
• The more competition that exists in your geographical area, the more likely you will find an affordable Arizona DUI lawyer. In order to remain or become competitive, especially during times of a struggling economy, an attorney may significantly lower their prices. Like every other business, they need to find a way to gain the edge over competing law firms.
• How much an attorney charges is not a reflection on their competence or effectiveness they can provide for your legal defense. This applies to both lower and higher fees. Larger Arizona DUI law Firms, tend to charge higher fees than sole practitioners or smaller Arizona DUI and Criminal law firms. This is mainly due to the fact that their cost to operate is much higher, for things like employees' salaries and benefits, advertising and overhead costs.
• The Arizona State Bar prohibits Criminal & DUI attorneys from charging on a contingency basis (meaning the practice of charging pending the outcome of the case).
• The client is usually responsible for any costs necessary to defend the case over and above the sole cost of attorney services such as independent expert fees including reconstruction engineers, psychological assessments, and polygraph (lie detector) tests.
• Arizona Criminal & DUI attorneys must communicate the basis or rate of the fees to their clients in writing. This is called a "Fee Agreement", which you are required to sign upon retention. If you have signed one, make sure you retain a copy of it. This is all you have to support or prove what you and the attorney agreed upon concerning fees and payment arrangements for pre-trial and trial services.
• Some attorneys charge what they call a "global fee" that covers everything associated in the case including trial. However, the in Arizona you should know that only a very small amount of criminal cases ever go to trial in Maricopa County Arizona. Somewhere between 2% to 4% meaning at least 96% do not. Paying globally, you usually are not entitled to a refund if your case is settled before a trial is needed. Be sure you understand what fee structure you enter into. Alternately, there are other Arizona DUI Attorneys who charge a two tier type Arizona DUI fees. This fee structure is commonly broken into stages that include a flat-fee before the matter is set for trial and another fee if the DUI case gets set for trial.

If you or someone you know has been charged with an Arizona DUI or other Criminal offense contact the Law Office of James Novak. Call now for your Free Consultation at (480) 413-1499, with experienced Phoenix Criminal and DUI Defense Attorney and James Novak (Former Prosecutor). *Valley-wide Service.

Phoenix DUI Lawyers

Most Phoenix Arizona DUI attorneys advertise that they will provide "a Free Consultation" for your Arizona Criminal or DUI charges. You wonder "what's the catch"? Most Criminal & DUI Defense Attorneys have moved to provide a Free Consultation to potential clients who have been charged with criminal or DUI offenses to remain competitive in the marketplace.

In the past, many DUI and criminal defense attorneys previously charged for this service. However, the trend moved for the Attorneys to provide a Free Consultation to potential clients. Those that continued to charge recognized that Arizona DUI & Criminal attorneys, that provided Free Consultations, converted to paid clients. In other words, the potential clients ended up hiring that attorney For their Arizona DUI & Criminal Charges. Hence, "the early bird gets the worm".

Today, you will still find an Arizona Criminal and DUI defense attorneys charging for this service. I hear horror stories occasionally by people who contact me for a Free Consultation. They tell me they paid $500.00 to $800.00 for the Attorney to sit and listen to them for thirty minutes. After the consultation they owed $800.00, and had no legal representation. Then they were back where they started.

The same thing goes for "jail visits" or "review of a police report". Some Attorneys will charge "A' la carte" upwards of $800.00 or $1,800.00 for the two services. But is that equitable for you? With all due respect to my peers, I am not saying it is wrong for an Arizona Criminal and DUI Attorney to charge that way. It's just different. It'd an individual business decision that any Law Firm has the right to make. Also, it should not be construed as a reflection on their ethics or defense effectiveness.

The fact is, however, that you do not have to pay for Free Consultations for your Arizona Criminal or DUI charges. You do not have to pay A' la carte for services. There are hundreds of Arizona criminal and DUI defense attorneys who do provide Free Consultation with no strings attached, and who charge one flat fee for their pre-trial services.

Phoenix DUI Lawyers

If you have been charged with an Arizona DUI or Criminal Charge call the Law Office of James Novak now for your Free Consultation with James Novak, Criminal & DUI Defense Attorney at (480) 413-1499. Experienced Defense Attorney and Former Prosecutor, James Novak Novak defends DUI & Criminal Cases exclusively. He charges only one flat Affordable Fees for retention of full legal
all of his pre-trial legal services.