Statement of Client Rights

We feel that anyone who retains an attorney to assist with a legal problem is entitled to a certain level of service. If you work with Feifer & Greenberg you can count on:

1. An honest assessment of your case. We tell you what we believe to be true, not what we think you want to hear.

2. Attorney availability. Each day we keep at least one partner out of court and in the office to answer client questions and discuss case strategy. Less time in court means we handle fewer cases and spend a little more time on each case we take.

3. Rapid response time. If we receive an email inquiry or voicemail, responding to your message is a priority.

4. Information. When the status of your case changes, you’ll hear from us. A client shouldn’t have to call their attorney to find out what’s going on.

5. Courtesy. Support staff, Case Managers and Attorneys all understand the importance of courtesy every step of the way. Our staff is eager to help.

6. Quality representation. We can never guarantee specific results, but we can guarantee representation by experienced attorneys who are prepared, understand the relevant law, make smart decisions on your behalf and absolutely work for the best possible outcome in your case.

We WILL NOT take your case lightly. You consider the matter serious enough to warrant legal representation…We’ll do everything we can to help you achieve your particular goals.

Our relationship with you goes well beyond an hour or two in court. From initial consultation through case conclusion, our focus is on good communication, preparation experienced decision making and quality results. With thirteen years in the traffic ticket business, we have fine tuned our procedures, leveraged technology and trained our staff to ensure that we provide you with a complete NY traffic ticket experience.

Information
During your initial free consultation, we answer your questions and help you make an informed decision concerning your individual situation. We will let you know exactly what you will pay for our service and we are confident you will find our flat fees quite fair. For those who continue as clients, we provide a complete Introduction Package specific to the individual case. We want you to know who to contact with questions and what to expect moving forward. Your experience with us should be as stress-free as possible.

Preparation
Prior to your scheduled court appearance or hearing date, your case manager will review your file. We ensure paperwork is in order, review your case description and any particular facts that may be important for your defense. We’ll contact you if there are any questions or concerns. We want you in the best position possible as your day in court approaches.

Experience
Your defense will require decision making and we plan to leverage our legal knowledge and specific experience in your particular court to your advantage. We evaluate your entire case and make informed decisions based on your goals and best interests. Our experience is key as we work to maximize your chances of success.

Customer Service
Each client is assigned a personal case manager. We are available each day to answer any questions about your case and we will respond as quickly as possible to every message and email. We consider communication a big part of client service. Communication includes providing answers to your questions, delivery of a Case Update after a court appearance and a Closing Report after our final appearance. We want you to know if further action is necessary and provide you with any other final information pertinent to your particular case.

A woman on Facebook recently posted a request for getting several traffic tickets fixed.

Another woman, identifying herself as a chief investigator for the Houston Fire Department, responded that she may be able to help because she knew the particular officer involved.

Shortly thereafter the same chief investigator followed up with a post that the tickets would be taken care of. A little later she wrote again and confirmed that the traffic tickets had been ripped up.

Now an investigation is underway as Houston officials are wondering just how a speeding ticket got thrown out after a simple, very public plea on Facebook.

The Houston Firefighter’s Union says the person who posted the request is the daughter of a veteran fire fighter who recently died. They say she was actually out making funeral arrangements at the time she received the traffic tickets in question.

While her behavior may have ultimately been excused by a court and the tickets ultimately dismissed, this was simply not the smartest way to go about it. The lesson here isn’t to avoid asking for help if you have a good reason and know people who may be able to help with your traffic tickets. It’s just that if you do ask, do it PRIVATELY…

Freeinsurancequotes.com recently analyzed how many people have traffic tickets on their mind by measuring how many complaints about speeding tickets are posted (tweeted?) on Twitter.   They looked at all the tweets concerning speeding tickets and analyzed the percentage of those tweets that came from each state.  California leads the US in speeding ticket tweets, with 14 percent of all speeding ticket related tweets originating from the state of California.  Note that Los Angeles, with about 11 percent of the total California population, accounted for 44 percent of the California tweets.  Following California are New York speeding ticket tweets (8 percent), Texas (7 percent), Florida (6 percent) and Ohio (5 percent).  At 4 percent are Colorado, North Carolina, Virginia, Illinois and Georgia speeding ticket tweets.

There are interesting aspects to this.  For example, Illinois, with about 1.5 million more people than Ohio, had 20 percent fewer speeding ticket related tweets than Ohio.  By analyzing the data you can potentially get a feel for which states more aggressively issue and prosecute speeding tickets.  Or, depending on how you look at it, maybe we’re just learning which states have residents who are more likely to complain about stuff…

I’m still curious though what numbers are involved.  Are there 100 tweets about speeding tickets–which would obviously be quite a small percentage compared to the millions of overall tweets–and 14 came from California or are the number of tweets about speeding tickets in the millions?  While this study breaks down all the tweets about speeding tickets we still have no idea how many such tweets there are.  We’ll have to check that out ourselves I guess.

If you need help with a speeding ticket in Los Angeles (apparently many people do), that’s outside our range as NY traffic ticket lawyers.  You can find excellent Los Angeles speeding ticket attorneys at our national site TicketHELP.com.  Of course, if you have questions about a NY speeding ticket and want to do more than merely tweet your concerns, feel free to contact us anytime.

From what we’ve seen lately, it appears that the DMV may be encouraging judges at the TVB to crack down on drivers who continue to ignore seat belt and cell phone laws.

Both violations carry no points. In the past, we routinely told potential and existing clients not to bother retaining our firm to fight cell phone or seat belt tickets unless it was a situation where the individual had some serious existing license issues or we had some reason to believe a conviction would affect the driver’s insurance. Recently, we’ve changed our policy based on case results we’ve either been involved with or been informed of after the fact.

In multiple cases, we’ve seen judges issue suspensions to drivers convicted of driving while using a cell phone or without a seat belt in NYC where one or more such conviction was already on their driving record. We’ve seen too many examples of this to call it a coincidence and we’re now advising anyone with a seat belt or cell phone ticket answerable to the TVB to at least talk to one of our attorneys before proceeding under a false sense of “no points can’t hurt me” security.

Right now the problem is unique to the Traffic Violation Bureau which handles traffic tickets issued in New York City as well as parts of Buffalo, Rochester and Suffolk County. TVB judges have the discretion to suspend motorists for just about any reason. Compare this to the local county, town and village court judges who generally leave the decision to suspend up to the DMV itself. The DMV generally sticks to the “11 points and you are out” rule of thumb and wouldn’t act on the addition of a zero point violation to a driving record and issue an otherwise discretionary suspension.

Feel free to read more about the differences between the TVB and the local traffic courts throughout New York or to contact us if you have any questions about a seat belt ticket or cell phone ticket in NY.

Submitted by Scott Feifer

Chu-sing to write tickets out of spite is just wrong.

On June 14, Queens Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Queens) observed an NYPD Traffic Agent, Daniel Chu, speeding through a stop sign with his police lights flashing. Halloran tailed Chu and stopped to snap photos of him parked illegally in front of a Dunkin’ Donuts in Whitestone, Queens. Chu yelled at Halloran and wrote issued him a ticket for blocking a crosswalk.

After Halloran complained about Chu’s behavior, Chu confessed to driving recklessly while talking on a cell phone and was disciplined. Chu’s been forced to say goodbye to the vehicle he’s pictured with above and has been demoted to foot patrol. He is required to undergo retraining at the Police Academy, which includes sensitivity training. He also faces several days’ docked pay.

Yesterday, the traffic ticket issued to Halloran was dismissed.

After the story found it’s way into the news, Halloran was bombarded with calls and e-mails from motorists claiming to have been wrongly ticketed by Chu. Halloran is still calling for a review of every ticket the agent wrote.

While a review of such closed traffic ticket matters is unlikely in my opinion, this story raises a couple of interesting points:

1. Thousands of “spite” tickets are written every year to people who verbally challenge an officer, pass an officer’s vehicle, drive too close to an officer’s vehicle or otherwise behave in a manner that results in the issuance of a traffic ticket where no real ticket-worthy violation was committed. It’s an outright abuse of power.

2. It takes a complaint from a Councilman to get anyone to listen. The vast majority of complaints made by people who were issued traffic tickets are blown off by officials as sour grapes.

3. If a complaint from a rich or otherwise powerful person is much more likely to be acted on than complaints from “ordinary” ticket recipients, enforcement officers decrease their chances of getting disciplined by pulling over taxi drivers, less expensive cars and less “connected looking” motorists in general. Why pull over the guy in the expensive BMW who may have the ear of some city official when you can pull over someone who barely speaks English and in unlikely to initiate any kind of effective complaint at all?

4. NOT ALL POLICE OFFICERS ISSUE BAD TICKETS. This type of story gets people cynical about enforcement officers. I’ve appeared against hundreds at traffic hearings and spoken to many off the record. Most simply issue tickets when the see blatant violations and tell the truth in court and that’s that. Behavior like Daniel Chu’s is way more the exception than rule. Unfortunately, most of the tickets that are written for the wrong reasons ultimately end up in convictions as traffic judges have little incentive or means to determine that an officer completely fabricated a charge.

Submitted by Scott Feifer

Traffic enforcment in Suffolk County (Long Island), NY may soon involve the use of airplanes.

The county sheriff’s office is testing the use of a small plane to spot bad drivers.

It’s just a trial program right now.  Last Friday, a plane flew low over the Long Island Expressway.  Spotters in the plan looked for aggressive drivers and radioed details to deputies below.

Sheriff’s deputies handed out 88 traffic tickets between 7:30 and 10:30 a.m., many based on what the spotters saw from the single-engine plane.

The spotters interviewed seemed impressed with the ability to see everything that was happening below very clearly.  Cars changing lanes unsafely, moving faster than others, tailgating, etc.

The plane was a loaner from Bergen County, N.J., but Suffolk County has already applied to the federal government for funding for its own plane.

Submitted by Scott Feifer

New York traffic ticket attorneys

Many people will ask whether they need a traffic ticket lawyer to assist with their case. There is no quick answer–every case is different.

Your free consultation with our firm is your opportunity to better assess and understand your particular situation and determine whether you will ultimately need or want to hire a traffic ticket lawyer to fight your speeding ticket, help clear a suspended driver license, etc. We will take the time to consult with you and give you an honest assessment of your case. The decision to retain a traffic ticket lawyer is ultimately a combination of a few different factors.

How severe is your traffic law problem?

The more serious the potential consequences are the more likely it is you’ll want an attorney at your side. A traffic ticket that carries points and potential insurance increases warrants legal representation more than one that doesn’t. Is there a possible suspension? Employment issue? What is your monetary liability relative to the cost of hiring a traffic attorney?

How complicated is your situation?

Perhaps your issue isn’t too severe but nevertheless somewhat confusing to navigate. The TVB and local courts don’t always make things easy for people. In fact, some industry insiders suggest they purposely keep things confusing (unsure what to do or how to do it and discouraged about the prospects of success, people are less likely to fight and more likely to pay).

Where is your case?

Location matters. If a court is across the street from your job or residence you are more likely to appear and represent yourself than someone facing a five hour round trip. Convenience is a factor when paying for a service and legal services are no different.

How much will a traffic ticket attorney cost?

We believe our fees are fair.  However, everyone’s financial situation is different. You’ll need to consider the cost relative to the potential consequences of the case and your own personal financial situation.

Can a traffic lawyer help?

Some penalties are automatic and there’s simply nothing we can do to help. Certainly, don’t hire an attorney if nothing can be done. It is important to consider your goals and whether a traffic ticket attorney increases your chances of reaching them. Ask yourself…Has the attorney set forth that he can help? Do I feel comfortable with this attorney? Is he experienced? What are the chances of a favorable outcome?

It’s the answer everyone wants when they call or email.  How do I beat my traffic ticket?  Here’s my general response:

1.  Consider which court system you are in.  It is either a local NY traffic court, where plea bargaining–a reduction of the original charge–is an option or it’s the Traffic Violations Bureau (TVB) where there is absolutely no negotiation or lowering of the charge.

2.  If it is a local traffic court, then it’s not always going to be about an outright “beat” or dismissal of the entire charge.  In most cases the prudent course of action will be negotiating a favorable plea bargain.  While a plea to a lesser charge may not constitute “beat” for some people, most are realistic and consider it a victory if the goals we discuss during consultation–avoiding points, surcharges, license suspension and/or insurance increases–are realized.

3.  If it is the TVB, where we are forced to hold a traffic hearing/trial on TVB traffic tickets, the goal is an outright dismissal of the charge.  Knowing there will be a hearing, many people ask what defense will be offered to beat the charge.  Before the hearing starts, we actually don’t know what arguments we’ll make.  Consider the following:

A.  There are few built in “defenses” we like to use.  Testifying that “I did it, BUT…” is very dangerous at the TVB.  If the judge fails to accept the “but” part of the argument, then you’ve essentially admitted guilt and have more or less lost any chance to win the hearing.  There are almost no “buts” that work.  Broken speedometer or other equipment issue, rushing to a medical emergency, from out of town, clean record, need to use the bathroom, medical condition…all seldom work.  Judges will tell you to call 911, keep your equipment working, etc. and quickly end the hearing and find you guilty of the charge.

B.  Arguments in your defense are “created” on the spot primarily by keeping quiet and looking/listening.  The officer speaks (testifies) first and we listen to his testimony while looking at the original ticket and then reviewing any notes the officer used to help him recall/testify.  We find our arguments in the form of errors, omissions, contradictions or other problems with what we see/hear.  Take two tickets, both written for driving 75 in a 50 mph zone.  In one case we may focus on the officer’s training, in the other we may focus on the location of the speed signs.  We simply don’t know in advance what line of questioning or motion to dismiss is most likely to be successful.

“Beating” a NY traffic ticket depends on a combination of which court, the particular goals of the motorist and the testimony that is ultimately offered against you.  If you have a ticket or issue you’d like to discuss, feel free to contact us and we’ll be happy to consult and evaluate your situation.

Submitted by Scott Feifer.

Speeding tickets are up along Route 304 in Clarkstown.  Watch your speed…particularly where the speed limit dips to 35 MPH in the New City – Bardonia area.

Why is this noteworthy?

One, it’s a good example of how the speed limit can vary on a single roadway.  Sections of Route 304 are 55 mph limit.  It’s easy to forget to slow down when the speed limit changes and officers are most likely to enforce near the area where the limit drops.

Second, I grew up right around there.  It’s a stretch I’ve personally driven hundreds of times and almost never at 35mph.  An otherwise mundane story of speeding tickets that happened to hit particularly close to home.

If you’ve been issued a Rockland County traffic ticket, feel free to contact us anytime.

Submitted by Scott Feifer