So, I know it is frowned upon to ask for legal advice on the boards, so what is the best to go about finding a good lawyer to ask?
I got a ticket for reckless driving (77 in a 55 zone) in Hampton, VA. This information is generally available and two legal firms have already sent me letters. I am hesitant to work with them and was looking for advice on how to find a lawyer for me. Thanks.
Contact your local or state bar association, which will be happy to refer you to a reputable attorney practicing in the field. Most will provide an initial consultation for free, which will provide you with enough information to decide whether you need an attorney. I recommend you talk to at least three before choosing one.
Note that Doper Bricker is a criminal defense attorney licensed in Virginia. I doubt he’ll be willing to provide legal advice but he may be willing to recommend someone.
Thank you very much, that is quite helpful.
Obviously I don’t know these two firms that sent you letters, so I certainly can’t vouch for them. But have you ruled them out because they sent you mailers? Even as you were looking for an attorney? Because chances are they specialize in precisely this area of law (as evidenced by their choice to have this mass-mailing system in place).
Now, very likely, they are a volume business and the firm isn’t going to be Skadden Arps and your lawyer no Clarence Darrow or Richard Posner. On the other hand, this is a speeding ticket case.
Anyway, I get the sense that you are ruling them out because you are offended they sent you targeted advertising (even though you are looking for precisely their services) or because the firm isn’t staffed with HLS grads who do multi-million-dollar M&A deals and traffic court cases.
Don’t underestimate the value of hiring an attorney who wheelhouse includes your case and don’t underestimate the folly of hiring a very genteel attorney who would never dream of advertising on TV and with fine credentials and who doesn’t really normally handle these kinds of cases.
But, maybe I am wrong. The Bar Association can make referrals. But they just pull at random out of a directory. Chances are these two firms are listed there too.
More fruitful might be to put out some feelers and ask friends and coworkers if they or anyone they know has had a good experience with a local traffic ticket attorney.
Maybe I’m missing something (and maybe I’m wrong to ask), but why do you need a lawyer for a traffic ticket? Are you contesting it for some reason? Did you, in fact, go 77 in a 55? Enquiring minds want to know!! 
This is all very true. I wouldn’t put a great deal of stock into friend/coworker recommendations, though. A lay person can identify a bad attorney, but probably won’t be able to identify a good one.
Thank you much for the advice. You are right that I was inappropriately judgmental of the firms that sent me mailers. So, what I am hearing is that it might be a good idea to call up the va bar and check out those firms, and that it might be a good idea to meet with each of them and decide what is right for me.
The reason I am going the lawyer route is that this is a class I misdemeanor with potential jail time, gigantic fines, and license revocation. These penalties are apparently uncommon except in a few jurisdictions in VA, none of which are where this happened. If the ticket were knocked down by 2 mph, it would be a less than $200 fine and I would not have the criminal record (a potential issue for security clearance). Those are two pretty important mph, and my understanding is that a lawyer might be very helpful in getting a deal that way. I do not expect to get out of the ticket in any way, I just want to be able to plea down a bit.
:eek:
20 over is a misdemeanor in VA? How is that possible? Does misdemeanor mean something different over there?
Here in California, going over 100 miles per hour is still in infraction, with a fine <$500 for first offense and up to 30 day license suspension, and I thought THAT was excessive.
Legal advice is best suited to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
It’s fairly common for speeding infractions of 30+ over the limit to be misdemeanors. For example, 40+ mph over is a misdemeanor in Illinois. The OP also says the ticket was for “reckless driving”, which is generally independently a misdemeanor. Not sure if he means 20+ over is automatically “reckless” in VA, or if he was driving recklessly and happened to be doing 20 over.
Yes, 20 over is automatically a Class I Misdemeanor in Virginia (as is going over 80 even if the speed limit is 70, or getting a DUI). I was just going fast, nothing else to make it reckless other than the speed relative to the limit. Virginia classifies both 80+ mph and 20+ over the posted limit as reckless driving. Max penalty: $2500, 1 year in jail, 6 months suspended license. We apparently have some of the toughest speeding laws in the country.
These sentences are apparently quite uncommon, but there are some judges known to do 1 day in jail for every mph above 90. Thankfully that does not apply to me (and I am not in one of the notorious counties).
Oh, a little searching on the internet suggests that Virginia probably has the second harshest speeding laws, behind North Carolina where they will suspend your license for going 15 over.
Nonsense. Reckless driving is an impound of the vehicle, with potential for up to 90 days in County and $1000 fine. CVC 23103.