Lawyers and Paralegals and your Speeding Ticket

Whether you hire a lawyer or paralegal to fight your speeding ticket is up to you. If you hire someone who knows the court system and how to fight a speeding ticket, the odds of winning go up dramatically verses appearing by yourself.

As the fee for most lawyers will far out way the cost of the ticket, a paralegal company like OTT Legal Services is usually the best way to be represented in court. If your thinking about represent yourself in court these are the questions to ask yourself to know whether your qualified to do so.

You need someone to represent you in court if you cannot answer these seven questions

  1. What are the prosecution's obligations in regards to filing dates ?
  2. What is the proper set fine for your ticket?
  3. What is meant by the phrase “improper on its face”?
  4. What is meant by "an after service amendment"?
  5. How do you examine a certificate of offence?
  6. What is a fatal error?

If you cannot answer these questions you are not qualified to represent yourself in court. If you do represent yourself in court there is a very high chance that you will be convicted of the speeding ticket. 

The economics behind a speeding ticket are very simple, pay a reasonable amount to be properly represented in court, thereby possibly saving yourself hundreds or thousands of dollars, or represent yourself and pay an insurance company higher premiums for three to five years.  Which way will save you more down the road?

You always need a paralegal or lawyer if you have accumulated more that six demerit points for previous tickets. At nine (9) points the Ministry of Transportation will call you in for an interview to talk about suspending your drivers licence for 30 days.

At 15 points the Ministry will immediately suspend your licence for thirty (30) days.

If your licence is suspended expect your insurance rates to increase one hundred (100) percent. If you are approaching this level you need every chance to win your ticket. You need a paralegal or lawyer who knows about speeding tickets, the answers to the seven questions, and how to run a trial.

You always need legal representation if you are charged with exceeding the speed limit by more than 50km/h, or for stunt driving as the prosecutor can ask the court to impose an immediate thirty day licence suspension.

It is not true that the prosecution and courts will give you a benefit or chance because this is your first ticket, or you have a good record.  Most courts will not give you credit for a good record, but many courts will use a bad record against you.

Speeding is called an Absolute Liability Offence Speeding is defined by the courts as one of “absolute liability”, meaning that once the prosecution has proven the guilty act of speeding, and no applicable defense is raised a conviction must follow.

What this basically means is that the prosecutor at traffic could does not have to prove that you meant to speed, or that you did it on purpose. All they have to prove is that you were speeding.

The driver is always responsible for the speed of the vehicle. The mental state or whether you meant to speed or not or any intention of the defendant/driver is not relevant to the charge of speeding.

In other words to obtain a conviction for a speeding ticket the prosecution/police do not have to show that the motorist intended to speed, nor can the motorist raise the defense that he took all due diligence not to speed.  Or that the motorist had “Mens Rea” (Latin for having a guilty mind, meaning the driver meant to speed).

Giving a reason why you were speeding is not a defense to the charge

Although you may have a reason why you were speeding, reasons for speeding are "explanations" and not a defense to the charge. 

With an explanation you are saying you are guilty of the offence but you have a reason for committing it. Giving an explanation will not get the charges dropped under any circumstances.

If you do hire a lawyer over a paralegal make sure you hire one who has experience fighting speeding tickets. As the practice of law is huge, many lawyers have no experience whatsoever in the Provincial Offences Courts or fighting speeding tickets. Usually a competent paralegal firm like OTT Legal Services will save you hundreds of dollars over a lawyer.

Many qualified paralegals are actually better at fighting speeding tickets than most lawyers

OTT Legal Services has successfully won thousands of speeding tickets, and we are the best company to win your court case. OTT is the leader in speeding ticket defense in Ontario. Call us to discuss your speeding ticket in confidence with one of our former police officers or licenced paralegals.

On May 1st, 2007, The Law Society of Upper Canada became responsible for regulating the paralegal profession including all speeding ticket companies, and anyone who represents others to fight speeding tickets in Ontario, through the Law Society Act brought about by Bill 14.  This means that all Ontario speeding ticket companies providing legal services require a license. Errors and Omissions insurance is now a requirement to run a speeding ticket company and to a fight speeding ticket or speeding tickets. OTT is fully licenced and insured to represent your traffic ticket and speeding ticket charge.

Why Risk Losing? Call For A Free Consultation 1-866-668-8946 or Email Your Request