For example, one place on the ticket states that you must return the ticket within 48 hours, while on another place on the ticket it states that you must return the ticket by mail or in person by a certain date which is always more than 48 hours than when you received the ticket.  

What do you then?  Well, you have two options, you can contact that Ulster County Traffic Court and ask them, or, you can contact us and we'll take a look at the ticket and let you know 1) what you are facing as far as motor vehicle points and fines and possible suspension and driver responsibility assessments, etc. 2) what our fee would be to represent you; and 3) what we can accomplish for you.

In most speeding ticket and traffic violation cases in Ulster County Justice Courts, you need not attend the court appearance at all.  Exceptions are with criminal charges in Ulster  County, such as Drunk Driving VTL 1192, Reckless Driving VTL 1212, Driving while ability impaired 1192.2, Aggravated Unlicensed Driver VTL 511, Suspended Registration VTL 512, and some Log Book Violations, just to name a few; in regards to the aforementioned criminal violations, in general you must show up in person to answer the charges.  In cases, if for example you live several hundred miles away from the court and you hire an attorney, you may be able to avoid appearing in person to answer a criminal charge.

Anyhow, getting back to the subject of traffic tickets in Ulster County New York, the most popular courts in that county are in and around Highway 17 and the New York Thruway, such as Ulster Town Court, Kingston City Court, Shandaken Town Court, Saugerties Village Court .  Thankfully, the American Legal system has something called plea bargaining. 

A plea bargain (also plea agreement, plea deal or copping a plea) is an agreement in a criminal or traffic ticket case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a recommendation of a lighter than the maximum sentence, lesser fines and less or no points.

A plea bargain allows defendants in traffic ticket and criminal cases to avoid the risk of conviction at trial on the original more serious charge, points, fines, surcharges, suspension and even jail time. For example, a defendant in an Ulster County traffic court charged with a 6 point speeding ticket, and the prosecutor may let the motorist plead to a 2 point (or a no point violation sometimes, and if you have me, more often than not in many cases in Ulster  County) violation which has less implications for insurance and fines, etc.

In cases such as a automobile collision when there is a potential for civil liability against the defendant, the defendant may agree to plead no contest or "guilty with a civil reservation", which essentially is a guilty plea without admitting civil liability.  This is really more applicable in New Jersey.

Plea bargaining can present a dilemma to some defense attorneys (but not for me), in that they must choose between vigorously seeking a good deal for their present client, or maintaining a good relationship with the prosecutor, for the sake of helping future clients.  However, for me, I only care about one person in this equation:  YOU, the client!  I want you to be happy, to write me a testimonial (see my testimonials here: New York Speeding Ticket Defense Testimonials)  

There is an expression I use from the "old country":  "Don't be right, be smart!"  Sometimes people insist that they are not guilty and they want to have a trial.  I tell them that they might be right, but who is the judge going to believe, the cop or the motorist?  Usually it does not pay to have a trial which is risky and likely in traffic courts to end in conviction.  Rather, I usually plea bargain the cases to get the points and fines reduced or eliminated.

Of course, I cannot guarantee the results, that would be unethical for me as an attorney.   But I can guarantee that if you hire me, you will get one of the most aggressive traffic and criminal defense attorneys in Ulster  County, New York!

The process works like this:  Once you hire me, and provide a copy of the ticket(s), I usually can contact the court and handle all the details through email.  You don't need to show up to court in most cases in Ulster County traffic ticket cases, and you don't even have to show up to my office.  After I resolve the matter, I email you the payment instructions if there is money to be paid, and that is it, you are on your merry way!  I make the process as painless as possible, and have done so for more than 10,000 tickets as of October 2010.