For the reader without the time or interest in the long version of how I handle these cases and what's so special about them, the following is a summary overview of what I do in these cases from our first phone call through the end of your case.

My consultations are done over the phone. They are confidential. Someone looking to hire a lawyer wants to begin gathering information right away, and I make that as convenient as possible.

A Traffic Stop or Drunk Driving case begins with a call to my office, either by the person arrested of someone calling for them. My staff will first want to know where the arrest happened. In order to be able to answer all your questions accurately, I restrict my practice in these cases to the courts of Macomb, Oakland, Wayne and St. Clair Counties. I know the Judges, the Prosecutors, the Probation Departments and other personnel in those courts because I routinely and regularly practice in them. Because of my experience handling these types of cases in those courts, with just a little bit of information, I can tell a person, pretty accurately, what is likely to happen to them.

I will have questions for a caller. Is it your first or second, or third (or fourth or whatever) charge. What happened? How did you get pulled over? When and where did it happen? I'll want to know all about what was going on before, during and after your arrest or ticket. Did you take a breath test? What were the results?

From there, after we exchange whatever other question and answers we may have, I can draw a pretty good idea about your case, and what can and should be done. I'll tell you what I think.

At that point, you may want to make an appointment, or you may be in the middle of checking things out. I'll invite you to call back with any other questions you have, or to make an appointment later, if you wish.

When you come in for your appointment, we'll spend all the time necessary to properly go over your case. I'll make sure that when you leave, you have a complete understanding of how things work, what you're realistically facing, and what I can do for you.

If you have a Drunk Driving case, we'll talk about getting your charge reduced to a lesser offense, and how that can save you losing the privilege to drive, points on your record, money for fines and costs and the other possible consequences of Drunk Driving laws.

There is a special requirement in any Drunk Driving or alcohol-related traffic offense: The law requires that a person who pleads guilty to or is convicted of any alcohol-related traffic offense to undergo an alcohol evaluation. This means that prior to the Judge sentencing you, you must take written test about your drinking habits. The answers you give each have a "point value," because the test is scored. The higher the score, the more likely you are to have or develop a drinking problem. The lower you score, the less likely that is. Your results and the screener's recommendation are sent to the Judge to be used at your sentencing, which is when the Judge will decide what is going to happen to you.

I believe it is perhaps the lawyer's biggest job to prepare the client for that test. That means I'll spend an hour or more just preparing you to take and do as well as possible on that test. Good test results mean good outcomes. Poor results can get you stuck in rehab, or a series of alcohol education classes that you have to pay for and attend. Make no mistake, how well you do at this point determines, in a very big way, how good or bad the outcome of your case will be.

Anyone who had a prior Drunk Driving already knows this and will completely agree when I say that whatever happens to you at sentencing, good or bad, is a direct result of this process.

In most misdemeanor cases, I can spare you from having to go to court for what is called an arraignment, if you weren't already arraigned while in custody. My office will file papers with the court which "waive" the arraignment, meaning that you don't have to show up and have the Judge read the charge or charges against you, and hear all the other legal stuff. By waiving your arraignment, a plea of "not guilty" will automatically be entered on your behalf, and you'll wait to go to court with me for the first real hearing, called a pre-trial.

At the pretrial, I meet with the Prosecutor and try to work out a deal on your case. In Traffic Ticket cases, that means avoiding or reducing the number of points you would otherwise get had you simply paid the ticket. In Suspended License cases, it can involve reducing the charge to a lesser offense, thereby avoiding another big period of suspension and the Secretary of State's Financial Responsibility penalties. In other cases, it can result in different bargains or deals, but it always means that unless there is way to get the case dismissed, you get some real relief and break from what you otherwise would have been facing. It means, simply, that you get a much better result having hired me than you would have if you didn't.

My fee schedule is for Drunk Driving cases is here. In other Traffic Stop cases, the fees are listed below as a "range" meaning that depending on various factors, especially such things as where the case is being heard, they fall somewhere within that range. I can give you an exact figure when we speak, after I learn about your case. If you have a charge that is not listed or covered here, I'll be glad to quote my fee over the phone, and it will never be much different from what you see here.

Driving While License Suspended, First or other Offense: $700 to $1000.

Possession of Marijuana, First or other Offense: $700 to $1200.

Open Intoxicants in a Motor Vehicle: $600 to $900.

Minor In Possession of Alcohol: $500 to $800.

All other Traffic Offenses, Misdemeanor or Civil Infraction: $400 to $900.