One issue that causes problems for clients is failing to go to court when they have court dates. Of course, if you hire a traffic ticket lawyer, you will most likely not have to go to court. But if you do miss court, and you do not hire an attorney to appear on your behalf, there could be serious consequences. Missing court will result in your file will be marked “Failure to Appear,” and penalties will kick in. For an infraction, you will have a fee of $200 that you will be required to pay, and your license will be revoked.
When your license is revoked, you are set up to get a serious charge that is a misdemeanor: Driving While License Revoked (DWLR). Many times, people don’t realize they have missed a court date and they forget about the ticket. They just continue driving and get pulled over. It doesn’t matter how long ago the court date was in the past, the revocation is indefinite until the underlying charge is taken care of. Before they know it, they have a charge of DWLR, and don’t understand why their license is revoked.
This is much better than the situation is for people who have been charged with a misdemeanor or felony. Typically, in those cases, after missing court, these people will have an order put out for their arrest. So the takeaway point here is that whatever charge you have, you either need to go to court on your court date or hire a lawyer. If you fail to do so, you could be facing a fine, revocation of your license, and sometimes, an order for your arrest. Needless to say, it is much easier to go to court, than having to go back to court trying to fix a previous mistake.
If you have failed to appear for court, it may be time to hire an attorney to help you get the problem straightened out. An attorney may be able to get the Failure to Appear and Order for Arrest stricken on your behalf. He or she can also get a new court date for you so that your case can be handled.
