Arizona DUI Attorney Fees

The attorney fees for DUI offences in Arizona fall inAmong the many variations to the fees structure
different ranges in a wide variety of structures foravailable in Arizona, there is the flat fee structure,
different attorneys. There are those that charge aunder which the client pays the full fees upfront,
rock bottom fee and those whose fees are muchcovering the entire range of work. This kind of an
higher. When it comes to choosing an attorney, though,agreement is advisable for a client since under such
it is not always a good idea to go with the cheapest orcircumstances the onus is upon the attorney to speed
most affordable.up the case in favour of the client so that the attorney
Attorneys who are good start getting more DUI casescan move on to other cases.
through word of mouth publicity. Instead of gettingThe other type of fee structure is one where the flat
overextended and not being able to do a good job offee is spread over different phases. For example, the
their cases, most of these successful DUI attorneysattorney may have a flat fee till a jury trial, and once
raise their fees and thus take select clients.the case proceeds to a trial, he or she will charge an
Those attorneys that charge rock bottom fees areadditional fee.
the ones to be wary of. Since their fees are low, theyThe actual cost of hiring an attorney varies. Yet, one
need to take up more and more cases to survive.can expect an Arizona DUI attorney to charge
What this means is that they have less and less timeanywhere between $3,000 to $15,000 for a first time
to devote to each case, which may not be the bestmisdemeanour, while the fees increases upwards from
thing for the client. There are also attorneys who$15,000 to even beyond $25,000 for felony DUIs,
advertise and have a sales team pitching for them.excluding other costs and expert witness fees.
These attorneys too have to take up a lot of cases toSome attorneys prefer to charge by the hour, with
meet the expenses involved in advertising and keeping$300 an hour being a common rate. These attorneys
a staff. These attorneys may not have the requisiteseek an upfront retainer, upon which the billing is done.
skills, expertise or attention required to handle a case.After the exhaustion of the original retainer, the client is
One needs to keep in mind that attorneys' ethicsasked to replenish it again. There are also some
prohibit them from entering agreements where theattorneys who adjust their payments based on the
client pays them only if they win the DUI case.financial needs of the client.