The benefits of a solucitor ?

Convicted Driver Insurance

Sophiecat7

Member
Hi everyone ,
My court case is on November 12th. I have spoken with the solicitor who i spoke to whilst i was in custody and to represent me in court would be £300.
I am extremely anxious and wondered if it would be of benefit to me to have him there . What are peoples thoughts please ?
Thankyou x
 
‘I am extremely anxious”.... I think that gives you the answer.
You can represent yourself, and write down what you want to say so you do not get lost for words but if you aren’t the panicky type, £300 for a solicitor will give you peace of mind that your mitigation will be put in a coherent form to the magistrates.
For your reading of 73, the magistrates guidelines are 17-22 months, so your solicitor will try to persuade the magistrates to go for the lower end. A word of warning though, you gave us some quite traumatic circumstances leading up to your arrest. Your solicitor may offer to put these forward to the court in mitigation but only get him to share what you are comfortable with appearing in the local newspaper. The details do not always appear, but the more ‘interesting’ the circumstances, the more likely it will appear in the paper.
£300 is a reasonable amount for a submission of mitigation in a guilty plea.
Your other options, as I said, is to write down what you want to day and just read it out. Get a couple of character references from local people, not relatives. Ask (if the magistrates do not offer) to be allowed to do a Drink Drive Rehabilitation Course that will reduce the ban by up to 25%.
The other option is to look for the duty solicitor at court on the day, he / she is free but it can be hit and miss if the duty solicitor is available to represent you as they give priority to cases where imprisonment is likely, and in your case that is not an option.
 
‘I am extremely anxious”.... I think that gives you the answer.
You can represent yourself, and write down what you want to say so you do not get lost for words but if you aren’t the panicky type, £300 for a solicitor will give you peace of mind that your mitigation will be put in a coherent form to the magistrates.
For your reading of 73, the magistrates guidelines are 17-22 months, so your solicitor will try to persuade the magistrates to go for the lower end. A word of warning though, you gave us some quite traumatic circumstances leading up to your arrest. Your solicitor may offer to put these forward to the court in mitigation but only get him to share what you are comfortable with appearing in the local newspaper. The details do not always appear, but the more ‘interesting’ the circumstances, the more likely it will appear in the paper.
£300 is a reasonable amount for a submission of mitigation in a guilty plea.
Your other options, as I said, is to write down what you want to day and just read it out. Get a couple of character references from local people, not relatives. Ask (if the magistrates do not offer) to be allowed to do a Drink Drive Rehabilitation Course that will reduce the ban by up to 25%.
The other option is to look for the duty solicitor at court on the day, he / she is free but it can be hit and miss if the duty solicitor is available to represent you as they give priority to cases where imprisonment is likely, and in your case that is not an option.
Thankyou. I too thought about the press and the interest it may cause.
xx
 
The reason I caution you is that on the drink drive rehabilitation courses I have quite often come across tales where the solicitor poured on the ‘sob story’ for mitigation about drink driving, only for people to find their private live splashed in a ‘human interest’ story in the paper for all the neighbours to read. That is why you need to be sure that what is genuine mitigation for the offence is disclosed, and you feel comfortable with. The magistrates do not have a great deal of leeway with the ban they can impose anyway.
Let us know how you get on, and ask any further questions about things that are worrying you about court. I know the theory of things, there are people on here who have experienced being in court for drink driving and will be happy to share that experience with you.
 
Totally agree
Last year I hit press big style & a hard year - I get my licence back next month
We have new neighbours just moving in from local area - when chatting re my job etc which I played down I got the ‘ look” & this time thought I don’t care
But that’s a year on & in lockdown
Just keep your head up - you will survive- & know who your true friends are
As the song goes “ I will survive “
 
Dont be sophie its only a very small portion of cases that hit local rag. My advice is DONT speak with anyone in the waiting area as journo`s like to fish about for cases to follow. If anyone asks either ignore or say your in court for non payment of a fine.
Mine press interest was I have an unusual name & they clearly checked names of cases
What I don’t understand there were no press in the court, the waiting area was quiet
Yet press got full transcript of what was said by the cps & solicitor but nit the character references content as I’m sure who I had & their positions it would have got in press
Spoke to an ex JP who said there are leaks
With covid etc I’m sure the press have more juicy stories but as others here say just say nothing to anyone
And the day after I managed to get to work ( not main site that day ) & the love I got shown from colleagues carried me through
Things will always get better
 
I was in a similar situation and thought £300 qas a fair price so i go a solicitor, main thing being for my peace of mind.
He was worth every penny and i believe my sentance to be lenient/fair.
If you have £300 which wont cause you hardship i would be tempted.
 
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