How Much Will It Cost?

Our current fee structure

Our open fee structure makes us different

In addition to our experience and expertise, another important way we differ from other law firms is that we maintain an open fee structure.

Currently our fees are set as follows:

Misdemeanors

Pre-trial: $3,000 to $5,000
Trial: $5,000 to $10,000

Felonies

Pre-trial: $5,000 to $10,000
Trial: $10,000 to $20,000

Murder / Serious Felonies / Federal Cases

Pre-trial: $15,000 to $25,000
Trial: $20,000 to $50,000

Appeals

All: $10,000 to $20,000

Regrettably you will find very few criminal defense attorneys who openly advertise their rates and fees. At our law firm, we do so for one simple reason: If you’re looking at our website, we know you have enough to worry about at this moment in your life to have to worry also about what your lawyer is charging you, or what services you are getting for your money.

A single fee for a single case

We also differ from many attorneys in that we do not ordinarily bill by the hour. We charge a single fee for such services as:

• All pre-trial work
• Trial
• Appeals and post-verdict motions

All of our legal work is included in the fee we cite you, and you will never be given another bill for that legal work.

For instance, if you come to us after having been arrested on a robbery charge, we will agree to represent you on all aspects of your case up to but not including trial. That means our fee will include all court appearances before trial, all pre-trial motion practice, all pre-trial court filings and legal research and briefs submitted on your behalf, all plea negotiation and conferences with the district attorney, all attorney-client visits and conferences, and the conduct of any pre-trial evidentiary or other hearings on your behalf.

Since most cases do not go to trial, we do not include our fee for trial in the initial pre-trial fee. Instead, in the event that you exercise your right to go to trial, we charge you a separate fee if you wish to retain our services at trial.

Even so, the above figures are our ordinary and expected fees. Without knowing the details of your particular case, we cannot offer a more precise figure but only a range that we reasonably expect to charge in typical matters. Your fee may vary up or down, of course, depending on the circumstances of your case, complexity of the evidence, seriousness of the allegations, and so forth.

You may download a copy of our standard letter or retention here.

Why no hourly rate?

We charge per case, not per hour. We because we believe you should pay your attorney for results, not for his time. It does not matter to a client if an attorney takes ten hours to negotiate a plea with the district attorney or ten minutes. What matters to the client is that his attorney represent him aggressively and zealously and that he attain the best possible result for him in his defense.

Why are you so expensive?

We believe our fees are competitive with other attorneys of our high level or experience and expertise, yet we admit we are not inexpensive. You can easily find an attorney who will charge half of what we charge.

But, to be crude, if you want to buy a BMW you will not pay Chevy prices. The old saying “You get what you pay for” applies to lawyers as much as anything else.

For this reason we encourage our prospective clients to “lawyer shop.” This is one reason why we do not charge for an initial consultation. Talk to us, then talk to other attorneys.

Ask them such questions as:

• What is your experience, background, education?
• How long have they been practicing criminal law?
• Do they have prosecutorial experience?
• Are they familiar with the judges and prosecutors on your case?
• How many trials have they done this year? Last year?
• Have you ever been cited by the Grievance Committee?

Our advice is to run away from any attorney who cannot give you straight answers to these questions or who will not quote you a firm fee for his services.

Know what you’re getting! Know what it costs!

Why pay for a lawyer?

As they say on TV, if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you free of charge. In New York, if you are unemployed and have no assets, the court will supply an attorney for you.

In that case, you will be represented by a public defender such as the Legal Aid Society, or by a private attorney on the “18-B” panel.

In our experience, both Legal Aid and 18-B attorneys do a fine job, although sometimes the representation is hit or miss. Robert Reuland, for instance, is a member of the A-1 Felony and Homicide panels for 18-B, which are very selective and limited to the most experienced lawyers.

If, therefore, you cannot afford an attorney and are assigned one, do not think your legal representation will be second tier. When we represent a client under 18-B, we represent them no less zealously than we do our retained clients.

Even so, in our view, if you or your family can gather sufficient resources to hire a private attorney you should by all means do so for this reason: when you are facing the most severe crisis of your life, you should choose who stands beside you.

What payment do you accept?

We accept cash, checks, all credit cards, and PayPal. In certain circumstances, we can arrange for an extended payment plan.