DUI Lawyers Fees: Payment Arrangements

Good DUI lawyers are expensive. Because of the costs involved with a competent defense of an impaired driving case, it may not be possible for most people to come up with the full fee up front. For this reason, most DUI attorneys accept payment plans.

There are a variety of payments plans available. Tt is up to the law firm to decide how best to structure a plan in each individual case.

A typical plan involves a large downpayment and then monthly payments until the fee is paid off.

Although some firms that do volume advertising and accept a massive number of cases do advertise that they will start cases for no money down on approved credit, the vast majority of firms will not do this. Most lawyer want at least enough of a payment that it will justify the time they will put into the case and the time it will take to withdraw from the case should the client fail to make subsequent payments.

It is typical for law firms that accept payment plans to ask for post-dated checks or credit card authorizations. This is especially true when the fee is in the form of a flat rate (as opposed to hourly billing). With post-dated payments, the law firm does not need to send bills or bother with collections.

Most firms that do accept payment plans will insist that all fees be paid before the case goes to trial. This reflects the reality that after a case is over, win, lose or draw, the chances of a DUI lawyer collecting the full fee dramatically decrease.

Some lawyers always discuss payment plan options, while others only talk about it if the potential client asks for a payment plan. Therefore, if you need one, be sure to ask the attorney what kind of payment terms the firm offers.