Do I really need a lawyer?

Even my lawyer couldn't truthfully answer this question, but he was good at selling himself because even though he isn't a criminal lawyer per se, he had done a few DUI cases, had experience we the court precinct I was assigned to and even knew the judge pretty well. But still, my case is cut and dry, there's no way he's going to cut any of the costs involved, he can try and get points reduced and maybe reduce the probation time. But chances are I will get that anyway if I stand on my own since this is a first offense with no other bad marks on my driving record. With all of the other costs just starting to be realized I was back and forth on this for awhile.

That fact that he did know the court, that and I am an imbecile when it comes to new situations like this I figured it is probably worth having him, even at the hefty fee of $1500.  A fee that he was adamant be paid asap. I didn't have those kind of funds available so we agreed to break it into 3 payments, but still asap.

With this and other unexpected bills piling up quickly I needed to work on some financial changes, quickly. I had some zero interest loans for home improvement stuff earlier this year that was eating up my monthly income, making more payments on top of those was not going to last long. And with all this new expense there was no way I was going to pay those loans off before they expired and all the accrued interest gets slammed on me. I needed a debt consolidation loan. Pile up my existing debt into something I can afford so I can afford to shell out a bunch of money for these new debts. Great plan.

It worked though, I didn't have to miss any payments on anything and I was able to pay the lawyer and many other fees that I'll explain in the next post. There was one heart stopping moment while finalizing the loan after it was all approved... they needed a copy of my drivers license!  I don't have a drivers license, all I have is a piece of paper that says OWI all over it. I didn't mention that to the loan officer and just faxed over my passport with an explanation that I lost my drivers license and was waiting for a replacement. It all worked out fine, but that was an eye opener! I've never not had a drivers license to use as a photo ID.


Costs:

Bond	$100
Vehical Release	$20
Towing	$85
Lawyer	$1500
Total	$1705