Were you arrested for DUI in Arizona and have concerns about how much your DUI will cost? Watch this video for guidance, then give us a call.
One of the things that we’re often asked by clients is, how much is this DUI going to cost me? Should I go with the public defender, or should I go with private counsel? A lot of public defenders are really burdened with many cases with indigent clients that can’t afford private counsel. If you can afford private, competent counsel, you’re always going to be better off with that. This is no slight to public defenders. If you can afford private counsel, I would always suggest private counsel, because you’ll know what you’re getting into.
One of the things that the law prohibits us on in criminal matter, DUI and other ones, is we as lawyers in Arizona are restricted by the rules for accepting criminal matters on a contingency basis. We can’t take the case now and have you pay us later if we are successful. The law restricts us from that in criminal cases and family law cases. We can’t take them on contingency, so oftentimes what you will see in a DUI matter is an hourly rate based on that attorney or a flat fee upfront. Flat fees can range anywhere from $3,500 on the very low end for small DUIs that are not heavily based in fact up to $6,000 for the more complicated DUI that involves a few things, and those are basic, run-of-the-mill DUIs.
Those that are fact-heavy that are going to trial and involve accidents will be more expensive. That’s just attorney’s fees. That doesn’t count the fines that are mandatory in some instances, 2,000 to 4,000 dollars’ worth of fines, and you have the interlock device, which are somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 dollars, depending on where you get it from. The number of fines for DUI and attorney’s fees can rack up pretty quickly.
One of the things that we do at Smith & Green is we try to work with our clients, put you on a payment plan, sometimes retainer upfront, payment plan. Every client is different, so there is no single answer for everybody, but there is a cost associated with it, and you have to pay for great defense, someone that’s going to be there to answer the phone, and so the DUI costs can vary.
Once you come into the office, you’ll meet with one of our attorneys and our staff, who will assess your case personally on an individual basis, look at the facts, estimate what it’s going to take to get it done, to get you the best result possible. We then we work with you on an individual basis as to how we accomplish that goal financially, but the sooner in the process that you contact us, the better off things will be so that discovery and other things can begin soon.
Were you arrested for DUI in Arizona and have concerns about how much your DUI will cost and how to go about hiring an attorney to defend you? Contact our dedicated Phoenix DUI lawyers for a free confidential consultation and let their experience work for you.