Chapter 13: How Much Is All Of This Going To Cost Me?

You may have heard the public service advertisements estimating the cost of a single DUI at $10,000 or more. It’s true that there are many costs that will result even from an arrest for DUI. 

First, there are indirect costs that many people suffer, including higher insurance premiums for years, the loss of a job or being skipped over for a promotion or not hired for a new job due to a criminal record. Unfortunately, if it comes down to hiring one of the two best candidates for a job and one has a DUI conviction and the other doesn’t, the person with the record will often lose out. A conviction can also affect professional licenses and close out highly profitable opportunities in some fields.

Next, the direct costs of a DUI, if convicted include, fines and court costs usually totaling more than $1,000, DUI School at approximately $175, the ignition interlock device required for a restricted license will be more than $1,000 for the year, under some circumstances an alcohol monitor will be required while the case is pending costing about $300 per month, which can easily exceed $2,000, insurance can increase dramatically for 3 to 5 years, and the Department of Safety may require an alcohol and drug assessment, and treatment if recommended, before charging a reinstatement fee before you can get your license back. Even going to jail isn’t free, as you will be charged a daily rate of approximately $35.

Lawyers’ fees vary greatly from lawyer to lawyer and also based on the facts of each case. A third offense, because of the greater risk, will usually be more expensive to defend than a first offense. Most lawyers, including those at the Barnes & Fersten, charge “flat rate” fees for DUI cases. That means that you will know the entire cost of the representation at the first meeting, whether the case takes 3 months or 2 years to resolve. The one exception to that is if a case goes to trial, we do not charge a fee for trial up front since we know that most cases will be resolved before trial and it does not make sense to charge a fee to cover many hours of trial preparation and a day or two of trial if we do not yet know if that will be necessary. With just a little information about your case we can usually quote you a fee, even over the phone, which many lawyers will not do. Many lawyers require you to come in to find out the cost, with the goal of selling you on their services once you are there.

We will never be the most expensive DUI lawyers in our area, but we will not be the cheapest either. We know that legal fees are unexpected and can cause a hardship. Even so, a good representation requires time, expense, and expertise, and therefore will not be cheap.

Unlike many firms, we do offer payment plans that allow a client to make payments on the fee. These payment plans require a down payment, usually between 1/3 and 1/2 of the total fee, and the remaining balance can be paid in monthly, bi-weekly, or weekly payments, depending on what works best for each particular client. 

While not everyone can afford to have us represent them, we do try to keep fees low enough so that the majority of our East Tennesseans can afford a high quality DUI defense when they need it.