Background

Motoring Advice

We have been advising people on legal procedures and representing our clients for over 80 years. Our advice allows you to make an informed decision on how to progress your case to get the best outcome.

Representation

We can assist you, whether its advice on how to fill in court papers, helping you prepare your case or representing you at court.

We are able to advise you on all areas of traffic law and represent you in most courts across the country.

  • Not Guilty, we will prepare your case, advise you on the law, argue pre-trial legal points, speak to witnesses and attend court to advocate your best position.
  • Guilty, we will try and negotiate a better position for you by plea bargain, ensure you receive full credit for your guilty plea and help you prepare your mitigation and references. The primary aim of this will be to keep your licence.
  • Facing disqualification, we will help you prepare your best case by obtaining the right evidence to support your need to continue driving. We will present the best case possible to try to retain your licence.

Procedure

  1. In any case our start point is to check that you are being prosecuted fairly. The authorities are under strict guidance in the way they detect and prosecute defendants. We will check your legal papers and advise you on how to deal with them.
  2. If everything is in order we will then turn to addressing the evidence and ascertain whether the authorities can prove their case. We will advise you on the procedure and evidence in order for you to make an informed plea of guilty or not guilty.
  3. It may be that you accept you are guilty but not to the extent of the allegations made against you. We will negotiate a plea bargain to achieve the best result without having a trial.
  4. If your case cannot be dealt with by written plea and you have to go to court the indication will be that the court are considering disqualification from driving and various other disposals. This is when we will advise you on how to prepare for court. This includes preparation of evidence, how to write a reference and what to wear.
  5. When the day of your hearing arrives we will meet you at court and be fully prepared to deal with your case. We will attend with you every day and help ease any anxiety you may have. We will have considered your case and be aware of exactly what to say and do which will put you in the position of achieving the best possible outcome. We will liaise with the prosecution and court staff to ensure that they are aware of your attendance and ready to deal with your case without any surprises.
  6. In the court room it dawns on some people that this is where their life can change – a loss of licence could result in a loss of job. Many charges carry community penalties or even prison sentences. In most cases when we represent you, all you will need to do is give your name, address and say guilty or not guilty. As we are professional advocates cases usually proceed best when we do all the talking and communicate the best points in your case to the court.
  7. If you are not guilty we will quickly identify the key issues in your case. We will complete the courts Pre Trial Review form and decide which witnesses will be required at court. Getting this wrong can result in you losing your case by agreeing evidence without thinking of the consequences.

Speeding

The penalty for speeding is at the courts discretion but in accordance with their guidelines. We can assist you by explaining the circumstances of the offence, alerting the court to all the offence mitigation, highlight your personal mitigation and the effect of the punishment. We seek to achieve the best possible result.

Driving without due care, failing to stop, and failing to report an accident

Often the above offences come from one incident. We will explain how the incident occurred and explain the circumstances to the court. In most circumstances you should only receive one penalty. This combination of offences carries a penalty from 5 points to 6 months in prison.

Alcohol offences

Generally the court has to disqualify you from driving. There are exceptional circumstances where this can be prevented but they are rare. We will examine the whole case, advise and help you to obtain the best result, which is likely to be the shortest disqualification and reductions for the completion of courses.

Documentary offences

There are a vast and complex array of offences, which carry a variance of fines, points and disqualification. No insurance is the most common which carries a minimum of 6 points endorsement unless special legal reasons exist. We will guide you through the requirements and obligations, in order that you only accept what you are actually guilty of.

Reaching 12 points (totting)

If you have reached or likely to reach 12 points on your licence then you will be disqualified from driving for 6 months. The only way to avoid this is to successfully present to the court an argument that you or another would be caused exceptional hardship. In order to win these cases you need to give the court the required information to allow them to find exception.

Pricing and timescales

To provide you with the accurate and relevant pricing information to help you make a considered decision when choosing and purchasing legal services from our Motoring Offences team please visit our Legal fees for Motoring Offences page or contact us.

Please note representation for traffic matters are generally not legally aided. You would have to pay for your advice and representation at court. The cost depends on the location of the court, complexity of the matter, guilty / not guilty / offence / applications.

Motoring Advice Lawyers

Kashif Khan LLB

Associate - Team Leader Crime

Andy Cave LLB

Partner

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Andy Cave LLB

Partner

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