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PricingWhat the flat fee covers
We do not publish one price, because a first-offense municipal case and a felony DWI are not the same job. What we do publish is the structure: the tiers, exactly what each one includes, and every cost that is not ours to charge.
How you get your number
You get a specific figure at the end of a free consultation, once we know the charge, the court, your record, and whether a test was refused. It goes into a written engagement agreement before any work starts. It does not change because the case took more hours than expected. Start with a consultation →
Four levels of case, four levels of work
Where your case falls is determined by the charge and the court, not by negotiation. Most people calling us are in tier one or tier two.
First offense, municipal court
- City ordinance DWI, no accident, no injury
- No prior intoxication-related offense
- Chemical test taken, not refused
- Entry of appearance, discovery, prosecutor negotiation
- All municipal court appearances
- Advice on SATOP and the license track
First offense with a license fight
- Everything in tier one
- Department of Revenue administrative hearing filed within the 15-day window
- Representation at the administrative hearing
- Restricted driving privilege or limited driving privilege application
- Refusal cases: petition for review filed in circuit court
- Coordination so the criminal and license tracks do not undercut each other
State charge or prior offense
- Charged under Missouri statute in circuit court
- Prior offender or persistent offender allegations
- Litigating whether prior findings of guilt actually qualify
- Motions to suppress the stop, the arrest, or the test
- Elevated BAC cases with mandatory minimum exposure
- Trial de novo from a municipal conviction
Felony DWI
- Persistent, aggravated, chronic or habitual offender charges
- Accident cases involving injury or death
- Blood draw and warrant litigation
- Independent review of chemical testing, expert consultation
- Commercial driver’s license cases with career consequences
- Preliminary hearing and full circuit court litigation
What the fee includes — and what it does not
This is the part most firms leave vague. Third-party costs below are real and unavoidable, but they are paid by you to someone else. We do not mark them up and we do not collect them.
- The consultation, before you hire us
- Entry of appearance and all filings in your criminal case
- Obtaining and reviewing discovery: police reports, dash and body camera, maintenance and calibration records for the testing instrument, the officer’s permit
- Negotiation with the municipal or state prosecutor
- Every court appearance in the stages your agreement covers
- Motions to suppress where the facts support them
- Phone calls and emails, however many you need
- Guidance on SATOP, interlock and reinstatement sequencing
- Where quoted: the Department of Revenue hearing or refusal petition
- Court costs and filing fees
- Any fine the court imposes
- SATOP assessment and the program itself
- Ignition interlock installation, monthly monitoring and removal
- Department of Revenue reinstatement fee and SR-22 filing
- Independent chemical testing, toxicologist or accident reconstruction experts, where a case needs them
- Deposition and transcript costs
- Bail or bond
- Stages of the case your agreement does not cover, such as an appeal — quoted separately, in writing, before that stage begins
On expert costs: most first-offense cases never need an expert. If yours does, we tell you the likely cost and why before anything is engaged — you are never handed a bill you did not agree to in advance.
Questions about the fee itself
Is the flat fee refundable?
Missouri requires that an advanced flat fee above $2,000 be deposited in the client trust account and withdrawn only as it is earned. If our representation ends before the fee is fully earned, the unearned portion is refunded to you. Your engagement agreement sets out the milestones that define what is earned at each stage, so this is not a judgment call made after the fact.
Can the fee go up once you get into the case?
Not for the work your agreement covers. The fee is quoted against a defined scope, and hours are our problem, not yours. What can add cost is a genuinely different stage — if a municipal case gets refiled as a state charge, or you decide to appeal — and any such stage is quoted in writing before it begins. If we misjudged how much work your case would take, that is our miss to absorb.
Do you charge more if I want a trial?
Whether trial is inside your quoted fee is stated in the agreement before you sign. What we will not do is leave it unpriced so that the number appears only once you are committed and have to choose between your rights and your budget.
Can I pay over time?
Ask at the consultation. Payment arrangements are common in criminal defense and we would rather structure something workable than have you go unrepresented on a case that will follow you for years.
Why not just publish the prices on the website?
Because the number that would be honest for every case is a number nobody should pay. A first-offense municipal case with a clean test, and a persistent offender felony with a blood draw and a suppression fight, are not comparable work. A single published price would either overcharge the first client or shortchange the second. What we can commit to publicly is the structure, the scope, and that you get your number in writing before you decide.
Ask for your number. There is no obligation attached to it.
A free consultation with Andy or Chris, and you leave knowing your charge, your license deadline, and exactly what our fee would be.
Free · Confidential · No obligation