What to Expect
From the first conversation to after your case closes — what working with us looks like, what we do, and when things happen.
Getting started
The consultation is free — usually a phone call, sometimes in person, and typically scheduled the same day you reach out. We use it to understand the charge, what happened, and what you want out of the case.
Before you decide, you’ll have the full fee in writing. Flat rate, not hourly. If you hire us, we send the representation agreement and open the file — usually a few business days from first call to active representation. If you don’t hire us, the quote is yours either way.
Building the case
We request and review discovery from the Commonwealth — police reports, officer notes, body camera footage, calibration records, whatever’s available for your case. While that’s coming in, we’re identifying issues: where the case is strong, where it isn’t, what defenses are on the table.
Strategy starts with what you actually want out of the case. The answer isn’t always “win at trial.” Sometimes the goal is shaping what comes after: what the conviction looks like on the record, what the sentence is, what the case leaves you to live with going forward.
Whatever the goal, we prepare for trial. We pull apart the evidence, find where the prosecution’s case is weakest, build the defense. From there, the goal shapes what we do with that work. Sometimes we take it to a verdict. Other times we use what we’ve built as leverage — a lesser charge, a better sentence, something off your record. The preparation underneath is the same.
This phase moves at different speeds depending on what you’re charged with. Traffic cases often resolve relatively quickly. Serious criminal cases unfold over a much longer timeline — there are long stretches where the case is moving but you can’t see it. We’ll keep you in it: calls, updates, decisions you need to make. You stay informed.
In court
For most traffic cases, we appear in court for you. You don’t need to take the day off or worry about childcare. The exceptions are cases where the charge or the jurisdiction requires your appearance — we’ll tell you up front which yours is.
For criminal cases that require you in court, we go through everything before the date: what’s going to happen, what to bring, where to go, what time, what to wear. If the judge speaks to you, we’ll have prepared you for that too.
After court, we talk through the outcome — what was decided, what it means, what comes next. Most traffic cases resolve in a single appearance. Serious criminal cases typically involve multiple court dates over a longer timeline.
After the case closes
Within four business days of your case closing, we send a Closing Letter. It recaps what was charged, what happened in court, what the outcome was and what it means going forward, and anything specific you need to know about your record, your license, or follow-up obligations.
A few weeks later, we call you. Cases settle in your head over time, and questions come up that didn’t occur to you at the courthouse. The call is for those.
When case-specific deadlines approach, we follow up again — for instance, when a review date for compliance is approaching. These dates are in your closing letter; a call from us closer to the deadline makes them harder to miss.
Tell us what happened.
The consultation is free, and the point of it isn’t to sell you on hiring us. It’s to talk through what you’re facing, give you an honest read on the case, and figure out — both of us — whether we’re the right firm for it. Either way, you’ll walk away knowing more about what you’re up against than when you called.