Does the Summons Charge a Crime
You are unable to Appear
You want to go to trial
How much will it cost to hire an attorney?
Whether you want
to have a lawyer handle your summons will depend on a
variety of issues, including:
-
whether your
summons charges a crime or some non-criminal offense
-
whether your
goal is to have your day in court at a "trial" or
whether your goal is simply to resolve the matter
-
whether you
want to devote the time out of your schedule to appear
in court yourself
-
(if you live
out of the area) whether you want to devote the time and
money toward returning to New York City to deal with a
summons
-
whether you
feel comfortable dealing with the court on your own and
representing yourself when you are not a lawyer and not
familiar the courtroom procedures
Frankly, many
people do handle handle their own pink summonses. In many
cases, the outcomes of their summons matters is not
much different, or sometimes, not at all different from the
outcomes that would have occurred if they had brought
lawyers with them.
If you are charged with drinking in
public, for example, the likely outcome of your summons is
not at all likely to be different whether you appear alone, or
whether an army of lawyers appears for you.
But this is not
always the case.
Does the Summons
Charge a Crime?
Sometimes, pink
summonses are given for criminal offenses. It may be
"just" a summons. It may well be that the judge may
offer you a way to avoid a criminal conviction, but in some
cases it still charges a crime. If you are convicted,
that pink summons could result in you having a criminal
record.
Frankly, most
judges in the summons parts don't see their role as one in
which they are out to give people criminal records.
The fact of the matter is that in most cases, judges will
offer you a way to resolve your summons, even if it
initially charges a criminal offense, in a way that will not
leave you with a criminal record.
If you feel
comfortable with this level of risk, then perhaps hiring a
lawyer for your summons isn't for you.
On the other
hand, many people are understandably concerned when there is
even a theoretical chance of receiving a criminal
conviction. If having a criminal conviction is
something that would cause you difficulty or embarrassment
in your life, then you might well want to consider having an
attorney with you to help you deal with the summons.
If you are one
of those people who is concerned about being charged with a
crime, then you probably need to consider hiring a lawyer.
On the other hand, if you feel comfortable confronting that
level of risk on your own, without any legal training or
experience, then you may well not need to hire a lawyer.
You are Unable
to Appear
If you live
outside New York City, or you will be unable to appear on
the date of your summons, hiring an attorney to appear for
you may be your only realistic alternative to having a
warrant issued for your arrest.
Perhaps if you
lived in New York City, you might even appear on your own,
but since you don't, or since you will be away on the date
of your summons, you need to explore other options.
In most cases,
your only other legal option is to hire an attorney to
appear for you. If you fail to appear, the court will
issue a warrant for your arrest, even if what you are
charged with is a trivial summons.
You want to go to trial
All this talk
about working out a summons by "paying a fine" assumes that
you want to work it out. Perhaps you don't. If
you believe that you have been wrongly accused of whatever
it is the summons accuses, then perhaps you are seriously
considering "going to trial".
Many people who
believe they have done nothing wrong, choose to "pay a fine"
rather than to fight the summons at some sort of a "trial".
Often the offense is so trivial that people would rather not
even waste more time dealing with it than it is worth.
Is it really worth returning to court multiple times to
argue about whether you were really in the park after dark?
In many cases, people don't think so, even if they believe
they did nothing wrong.
In some cases,
however, people are sufficiently motivated to pursue even
trivial accusations. If it is your intention to "go to
trial" on a summons, then you absolutely need the advice of
counsel. If you are going to participate in one of
these "summons trials" then you need to know the rules of
evidence, you need to understand criminal law in general,
and you need to know how to examine witnesses. If you
don't know these things, then you are not in a position to
have the best chance of success at your "trial".
How much will it Cost?
The cost of hiring us, in most cases, to resolve your case,
assuming
that you do not want us to prepare for and conduct a trial
is a flat fee of $500.
