Driving on a suspended or revoked license is a serious crime that is generally punishable by up to a year in jail. Sometimes, depending on why your license was taken away in the first place, it can even be a felony, which is a crime punishable by more than a year in jail. But just because these are the possible maximum sentences, does not necessarily mean that you will spend even one day in jail. And how seriously you are in trouble will depend on why you originally lost your license and how many times you have received tickets like this in the past.
How Much Trouble Am I In?
For instance, someone who lost their license because of a lack of insurance would not be in as much trouble as someone who lost their license from old DUI convictions or from a serious injury accident. And someone who had never received this kind of ticket before would be in much less trouble than someone who had already been ticketed many times before. In other words, sometimes a suspended or revoked license ticket is serious and sometimes it is very serious. But since almost all such tickets could result in jail, most Judges will strongly suggest that you hire an attorney to properly protect yourself and your license.
Once we have determined why your license was lost, we will be able to tell you how much trouble you are in and how to best protect you. In any case, we are well qualified to be your attorneys, as we have handled thousands of cases like these before. You’re in good hands.
We’ll Work With You to Fix Your Driver’s License
Well, now that you have some basic information, what should be done? In our experience, usually the best course of action is to first see if we can fix your license. Although fixing your license won’t make you not guilty of the crime, because it was fixed after you received the ticket, most Judges and prosecutors do appreciate that you finally fixed your problem. It doesn’t mean (like a lot of people believe) that it will always get your ticket thrown out. But, if we approach your case in this way, we can often get you a much better result and sometimes even get your case dismissed.
Fixing your license before we get to court is usually a great idea. It lets you drive again and also shows the Judge that you are taking care of your problem. As part of our legal representation, we will check out your driving record and tell you what can be done to fix your license before we get to court on your ticket. If your license can be easily fixed without our help, we’ll also tell you how to do it at no additional charge.
What Can I Expect in Traffic Court?
Many times, cases like these can be worked out quickly and easily, sometimes even on the first day of court (and sometimes not, depending on what county your case is in and other factors). Under certain circumstances, we may be able to get your case dismissed completely or get you a sentence called supervision. As long as you stay out of trouble while on supervision and do what the Judge asks of you, supervision will generally not hurt your driving privileges in any way. Depending on your driving history, you may need to pay a fine or do some community service also. Once we have looked at your driving record and discussed your case, we will give you our best estimate of what sentence you are likely to receive.
Should I Work Out a Plea or Do a Trial?
There are other times however, when the prosecutor is offering a sentence that we believe is too severe and may include jail. And there are times when you may not want to accept the prosecutor’s offer under any circumstances. In such a situation, we will fight for your rights and do our very best for you. We know how important your license is to you and we know that no one ever wants to go to jail. We can file motions or go to trial in an effort to get your case dismissed or reduced. We know the best ways to try to accomplish this, because we’ve been handling these cases for many years.
Of course, we will also give you an honest appraisal of your chances. Once we have heard your traffic history and discussed your case, we will give you our best estimate of whether you can beat your case or what sentence you are likely to receive. Our main job is to keep you fully informed about your case and your chances for success. If it’s good news, we’ll tell you. If it’s bad news, we’ll tell you that too. The last thing you need is a lawyer that sugar-coats your case for you or makes it last longer than necessary. We’ll give it to you straight.
Schedule a Free Consultation About Your Suspended License
Our fees are very competitive and are quoted as a flat fee, not hourly. In most cases, payments plans are available and a free meeting with an attorney is always available to discuss your case more in detail. When we speak, we will be able to quote you exact fees depending on what tickets you received and what your driving record looks like, so if it is at all possible, please bring a copy of your driving record to your first meeting.
Bring a Copy of Your Court Purposes Driving Abstract
You can get a driving record by going to any Secretary of State Office and just asking for one. You can also try to download a copy through the official Secretary of State website – ask us how. The Secretary of State is also known as the Department of Motor Vehicles and it’s the place where people get their licenses renewed; there are many locations. Just ask for a “court purposes driving record”. They will print it right out for you for a small fee. If you bring this record with you when we meet, we will be able to see your whole driving history and then we can determine what can be done to fix your record. If you can’t get a driving record, you should still set up a free meeting with an attorney from our office.
Driving on a suspended or revoked license is a serious matter. But pick the right attorney at the start and you’ll have the best chance at success. At Mitchell S. Sexner & Associates LLC, we are professionals with a history of successful results. And we’re ready to help you today. We can be contacted at (312) 644-0444