The attorneys at Thomas & Willis have over 200 combined years of trial experience. Due to the extensive trial experience, and 10 attorneys possessing varying levels of trial time, we can offer you an array of fee options. Hiring our firm is now enhanced by our firm’s Bill of Rights for Clients, which is unique in Georgia and possibly in the entire nation.
Beyond the assignment of a case to an attorney based on experience level, three primary factors control all of our fees:
The firm offers two very reasonable fee levels for their clients. There is one fee for one of the three partners and a separate fee for the firm’s associates.
We accept four types of credit cards for fees: [1] MasterCard; [2] VISA; [3] AMEX; and [4] Discover. We can accept your credit card(s), or use the card(s) of a family member or friend, with their written approval. In addition, we offer payment plans wherein part of our fees may be paid by you at the outset of your case, with the balance to be paid on an agreed time schedule with all fees due prior to the case being concluded (through a trial or a successful negotiated plea).
All clients are given a FREE interview with one of the members of the firm. All new clients receive a valuable package of information. You will be offered several different fee options with our attorneys, and are not obligated to hire any attorney until and unless you decide whether to retain an attorney from Thomas & Willis.
The Municipal Court of Atlanta presently requires persons arrested and released from jail to appear at court at 7:00 AM on the next available weekday. This is the busiest misdemeanor traffic offense court in Georgia, and is our busiest court. We have our attorneys there EVERY DAY COURT IS HELD at 7:00 AM sharp.
We recently added extra employees (not an answering service) to be able to answer your phone calls 24 hours a day, 7 days per week. We also added the capability to translate for any callers who have difficulty speaking English, or who can’t speak English at all. These changes were designed to accommodate you, in your time of need. Our policy is “When YOU are in Trouble, Tomorrow is Too Late.”
Typically, when you go alone to Atlanta Municipal Court, you will be asking the judge for a reset of the case until you can meet with and possibly hire an attorney. NO ONE SHOULD EVER PLEAD GUILTY AT THIS FIRST COURT APPEARANCE. NEVER. Yet, the average amount of time that unrepresented defendants are spending in the Municipal Court of Atlanta for these “next day” hearings is 4 to 7 hours, depending upon which day they must appear (Monday is typically the WORST day, with up to 200 people to process).
This procedure of the Municipal Court of Atlanta creates chaos and havoc in the schedules and lives of these accused citizens who may ultimately be found “not guilty” or have their charges reduced. In response to the needs of these unfortunate people, our office has developed a unique, special solution for you. For accused citizens who hire us and pay a partial retainer, we can go to court FOR YOU at 7:00 AM.
For any clients that hire our firm by paying a small partial retainer fee, we can appear at court FOR YOU, and let you go to work, school or on your out-of-town trip. In other words, you will NOT have to go to the 7:00 AM first appearance date. This can save you stress, prevent the embarrassment of telling your boss why you are not at work, or possibly will allow you to not miss a scheduled business or vacation flight.
How does this work? It is very simple, and RISK FREE. We can only act on behalf of citizens that we have been retained to represent. Hence, we only require $1,250.00 as a partial retainer from you. This can be paid by credit card, check or cash. The partial retainer will be applied toward any total fees for your case.
Why is there NO RISK? Because we have implemented a one-of-a-kind, 30-day money back guarantee for the payment of these partial fees. We did this because it is almost impossible for our attorneys to actually meet with you before court the next morning in a normal client interview process, yet you do need a knowledgeable person to act on your behalf. By accommodating the Atlanta Municipal Court’s immediate scheduling of the cases, we will be there for you and relieve you of being in court for a needless hearing. We will get a RESET of the case for 45 to 90 days to allow us time to investigate the case fully and determine your chances of either winning the case or getting the serious charges (like DUI, hit and run, racing) reduced to a less serious charge.
Once we obtain a new court date for you, we will also help you file your all-important 10-day letter appealing the officer’s proposed administrative suspension of your driving privileges. We will assure that the full letter challenging your pending suspension is sent out to the Department of Driver Services (DDS) in a timely and complete fashion to protect your right to drive in Georgia while the criminal case is pending.
When we call you to advise you of your NEW court date in Atlanta Municipal Court, we will set up a time for you to meet with one of our highly skilled DUI-criminal law attorneys to review your case. If you reside out of state or a great distance from our office, we can conduct this interview by phone.
If, after meeting with our firm, you decide not to go forward on your case with one of our attorneys helping you find solutions to your legal problem, you can request a full refund of this partial retainer. All we will need from you is the documentation (that we can draft) releasing us from being your legal counsel.
We pride ourselves on having the very best trained and empathetic staff support and the very best trained attorneys with unparalleled success at court. So, we know that the chances of a refund being requested are very small. This is a risk we are willing to take, in light of the completely unfair practice of Municipal Court of Atlanta insisting on this “next morning” court appearance policy.
We are confident that if you meet our staff and our attorneys, you will want to have us follow through with handling your case. We know that our lawyers have the most collective years of trial practice, the most trials, the most appeals and the most successful reductions of charges to lesser offenses of any firm in Georgia. Our entire practice has been built upon the premise of obtaining the best possible results for our clients in these difficult cases.
Remember our slogan…“An Arrest is NOT a Conviction”. Don’t try to resolve a complex criminal law prosecution such as a DUI with anything less than an experienced criminal defense lawyer who is both knowledgeable and up to date on the law in Georgia. Give us a call today for a free consultation at (404) 250-1113.
Why trust your freedom to anyone else?
Many people arrested for DUI feel as though they have already been pronounced guilty of a crime. If you have been charged with DUI, you should speak with expert DUI attorney Thomas J. Thomas.
750 Hammond Dr. Building 10 Suite 200
Atlanta, GA 30328
