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Which Offenses Are Best for Direct Mail in Virginia?
A criminal defense attorney in Virginia may use multiple methods for advertising to potential clients. Many attorneys use the internet, referrals from colleagues, email correspondence in the form of newsletters, direct mail, or other more diverse and unique methods. For those attorneys that use direct mail, a decision must be made as to which areas of law to advertise for.
DWI/DUI or Drunk Driving
Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) or Driving Under the Influence (DUI) charges are very lucrative for criminal defense attorneys. People have a lot to lose if they catch such a charge. They can face active jail time, a one-year loss of privilege to drive in Virginia, have to face the Alcohol Safety Action Program (ASAP), be required to install ignition interlock, face high fines, and face other penalties related to a conviction such as a loss of employment and an increase in automobile insurance premiums. As a result, a DWI/DUI charge is an important part of a Virginia Criminal Defense Attorney’s practice.
As compared to other types of criminal charges an Attorney may represent a client on, DWI charges are one of the most litigated cases in the courts. Unless a client is facing mandatory jail time (and a prosecutor agrees to remove it in exchange for a guilty plea), most attorneys are faced with no choice but to go to trial. After all, in most jurisdictions in Virginia, a Judge is not likely to incarcerate a client for a DUI conviction in a run-of-the mill DWI. As a result, a Virginia Attorney wishing to send Direct Mail to potential clients charged with a DWI/DUI will likely face numerous trials and will need to keep up-to-date on the latest cases and statutes governing these types of charges. One major advantage, however, to representing clients on DWI/DUI charges is you can charge a much higher fee.
Speeding or other Traffic Offenses
Depending on the jurisdiction in Virginia, an Attorney can lend some substantial assistance to someone charged with a speeding ticket or other traffic offenses, such as failure to obey a highway or disregarding a traffic light. These kinds of cases are numerous and many clients wish to avoid DMV demerit points and/or insurance rate increases. The plus side to advertising in this area is the increased amount of potential clients needing your services because of the large amount of people who get cited for traffic violations every day.
A consideration as to whether to advertise for such cases is that many jurisdictions do not have traffic school for dismissal or reduction programs. Because an Attorney would likely charge less for simple traffic tickets, multiple court appearances and trials in traffic accidents and certain speeding cases may make it relatively unprofitable to represent clients facing such charges. For example, if you go to court for a client on a speeding charge and cannot work out a favorable resolution with a prosecutor for a reduction, you would presumably request a continuance to have another crack at it later. Accordingly, upon returning with that client to court, the possibility remains that you may still not be able to favorably resolve the case for your client. As a result, going to trial on a speeding ticket when you have charged a low fee expecting an agreed upon reduction with the prosecutor may not be the most lucrative method to make a profit.
On the other hand, in jurisdictions with, for example, traffic school for dismissal, an Attorney can really help a client and make a profit while doing it. You can negotiate such a result and have a happy client in the end because they are able to avoid a conviction. A happy client can mean future referrals and future referrals mean future business.
Reckless Driving
Reckless driving charges carry penalties that can really ruin a client’s life. Not only is it a misdemeanor, it will wreak havoc on a client’s insurance and damage their driving record. It may also hurt a client’s security clearance and will result in a criminal conviction. Because simply driving over 80 mph or 20 mph or more above the speed limit in Virginia is reckless driving, many good people with a solid background will face this charge in their lifetime. However, a Virginia Attorney can do a lot of good in this area.
Reckless driving charges are a lucrative area in criminal and traffic law. In most jurisdictions in Virginia, an Attorney can negotiate a run-of-the-mill reckless driving charge down to a simple traffic ticket without the need to go to trial. In fact, many times this reduction can be negotiated on the first court appearance. As a result, you have a happy client because they have avoided a misdemeanor conviction and you have not had multiple court appearances and/or a trial on the charge. Consequently, it is fairly common for a Virginia Attorney to have multiple reckless driving cases on one day, and being able to resolve most of them on that day makes for a profitable business.
Reckless driving cases can be the most lucrative charge that you use direct mail for. Stakes are high for the client but negotiation is ripe for the Attorney. As in simple traffic tickets, reckless driving cases are a high-volume practice, but with the higher stakes for the clients, you can charge more for them, and so it can be well worth advertising for reckless driving cases by direct mail.