Disclaimer:  We do our best to insure that the information provided above is accurate, however we recommend that you contact the court before relying on this information.

 
What should I do if I am given a speeding ticket or arrested in Highlands Town Court in Orange County?

This Highlands Town Court is responsible for handling all preliminary hearings in felony criminal criminals, misdemeanor criminal matters through trial, and traffic matters including moving violations, citations, parking tickets, speeding summonses, etc. What is there to do if one receives traffic ticket, speeding violation, or am arrested in Highland Falls?  Usually, the ticket will indicate by when you have to answer. The ticket will also indicate where you need to send it in to enter a not guilty plea. If you wish to plead guilty to the ticket you must do so either in open court or by sending the ticket in to the court pleading guilty. Before pleading guilty to any moving violation in the state of New York, you should know that you are subjecting yourself to fines, surcharges, driver responsibility assessments (which are $100 a year for three years for the first six points received in an 18 month period), suspension, and possible jail time although it is rare. This is not to mention insurance increases and possible cancellation of your insurance policy in New York.

First of all you, you should not ignore the summons, that is the worst thing you can do.  If you ignore a simplified traffic information in the State of New York, the DMV can suspend your license until you resolve the ticket.  Furthermore, before the court will remove the suspension, you must pay $70 per ticket. For example, let's say you receive a three point stop sign ticket and a four point speeding ticket in Highlands Town Court.  The officer printed on the tickets the date by which you have to answer the summonses, and because you are busy or lazy or for whatever reason, you ignore the tickets. In general, you will receive a notice of impending drivers license Suspension from the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles informing you that your license will be suspended for each ticket that you did not answer.

You usually have 30 days from your receipt of this letter to contact the court and enter not guilty plea. You can also receive a suspension notice after answering the ticket not guilty and for failure to show up to court when the court tells you that you need to appear.  in order to prevent the suspension of your license you need to contact the court right away. If you have already been suspended, then you need to pay $70 to lift the suspension in this case, that would be $140.  Sometimes, the court would require bail money also, which is a pain.

Here is how the process works:  You can either call me to discuss your tickets, or ideally you will first you fax or e-mail me the ticket so that I can get an accurate picture of what you are facing. As they say a picture is worth 1000 words. After I see your ticket or after we discuss your ticket over the phone, I will tell you how many points you are facing and how much the fines and surcharges are, and the possible impact on your right to drive and your insurance.  I will quote you a fee to represent you. In most cases, my fee is a flat fee. That means that you only pay me once, and you know ahead of time how much legal fees will be. My fee, of course does not include the fine that you must pay to the court if any. After you hire me and I acknowledge receipt of payment, I will send you a representation agreement/receipt and I will contact the court ASAP to inform them that I am representing you and that we are entering a not guilty plea. If you received the summons in New York City, we may be able to enter a not guilty plea on line. After we have contacted the court or hearing office where this matter will be heard, we have to wait until the court sends the court notice with the pretrial or trial date. Usually the notices will come directly to me, especially in the case of upstate tickets. We will appear on the date that the court requires us to appear, and in the case of upstate courts, we will usually work out a plea bargain. A plea bargain works like the following: I negotiate a plea whereby the officer or prosecutor agrees to let us plead guilty to a lesser charge, meaning a charge which carries less or no points along with a fine. At that point I go in front of the judge with a police officer or prosecutor, we discussed the offer in front of the judge and the judge either accepts or denies plea bargain arrangement. Usually, judges accept the deal's worked out, at which point the judge assesses as a fine including the state-mandated surcharge.  the court will then give us time to pay at a minimum one week and sometimes up to 30 days (two weeks in the TVB courts).  At that point, I will email you the results, including possibly a form that you can use to pay the fine directly to the court via credit card or money order.  If you include a self-addressed stamped envelope with your payment to the court, then the court will mail you a receipt for your payment. If a fine is due on New York City traffic violations, you can pay the fine online, and if necessary I will provide you with the link for that.

So, the $64,000 question is… Should I hire an attorney? There are several advantages to hiring an attorney to handle your traffic matter in New York State. 

1. If you hire me to fight your New York traffic ticket in most cases, you do not need to show up personally to the court. In 99% of the courts, I can appear without you and negotiate a reduction or elimination of the points in fines. Even in New York City Traffic courts (the dreaded TVB), you do not need to show up at all to court.  this is clearly a benefit to you, in that you don't have to take off from work, get a babysitter order structure personal life to show up to court.
2. Second of all, if you hire my firm represent you for New York City, upstate New York or Naussa County speeding or traffic ticket,you will get an attorney who has handled thousands of tickets.  I am one of the most experienced traffic ticket attorneys you can find in the state of New York.  As a former police officer, I understand the system inside and out. I will get you the best possible resolution and will minimize the impact on your license.  So, if you hire me you are making an investment towards saving fines points in insurance increases, and possible suspension of your right to drive in New York.
3. Finally, if you hire my law offices, I will take care of all the paperwork for you, and make sure that all deadlines are met, so that you could concentrate on your other respnsibilities in life. If you hire me I will "take care of you."
4. We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover card, PayPal, personal checks, money orders or cash in person in our office. If the fee is too difficult or too high for you to pay in one lump sum, oftentimes we can work out payment plans make it easier for you to hire me.
5. in general, when you call me I answer the phone not a paralegal or secretary. When you speak to me, you are speaking to the source of knowledge not some secondhand information was given to a non-attorney to answer the phone.