Criminal and traffic lawyer, Local Court

What we do here

Police have attended or taken statements, no charge yet
Police want to interview you
Charged and waiting on a court date
Drink or drug driving
Licence suspension appeals
Defended hearings

What actually happens at court

The piece of paper is a court attendance notice. It sets out the charge, the court and a date. That first date is a mention, not a hearing. Nothing is decided at a mention unless you ask for the matter to be dealt with that day.

At a mention the court asks what you intend to do with the charge. If you are not ready, an adjournment is normal and usually granted. If you plead guilty, the matter can be dealt with that day or set down for a sentence hearing. If you plead not guilty, the court sets a timetable for service of the police brief and lists a hearing.

A plea of guilty reduces the sentence. In the Local Court that reduction is discretionary rather than fixed, up to about 25 per cent, and it depends on how early the plea came.

What is more often worth the argument is the police facts. The facts sheet is the document the court sentences on, and it is frequently written higher than the evidence supports. Sentence turns on what that sheet says more than on the plea itself.

A defended hearing is where the evidence is called and the witnesses are cross-examined. Traffic and drink driving matters follow the same path, with a licence appeal running on its own 28-day clock.

What it costs

All court appearances start at $2,500. Court filing fees, expert reports and interpreters are additional.

How long it takesAdvice before an interview is same-day where it needs to be. A Local Court matter that resolves on a plea is usually finished within two to three months. A defended hearing typically lands four to six months out.

Advice while under investigationWhere police have attended, taken statements or executed a warrant but no charge has yet been laid. What is likely to follow, what your obligations are, and what to do if contact is made again.

$1,650

Attendance at a police interviewAdvice beforehand and attendance with you.

$1,650

Written advice on a court attendance notice or facts sheetWhere you stand, and whether you need representation at all.

$550

Plea of guilty, one appearanceInstructions, subjective material, written submissions on sentence and the appearance.

$2,500–$3,850

Section 10 or conditional release order applicationWhere the aim is no conviction. Character material and submissions.

$2,500

Defended hearingPreparation, subpoenas, cross-examination. Half to a full day.

From $6,600

Indicative ranges for common matters, including GST, disbursements extra. Your fee is confirmed in writing before work begins. Full list for this area.

Questions people ask

Police can investigate for weeks without charging anyone. Anything you say in that time goes into the police brief if a charge does follow. Get advice before you give an account.

Section 10(1)(a) of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW) allows a court to dismiss a charge without recording a conviction, and a conditional release order can be made without conviction. Whether it is available in your matter depends on the charge, your record and the character material you can put before the court.

For most mentions, no. We appear and you stay at work. For a sentence hearing or a defended hearing you attend, and you are told which one it is well before the date.

A finding of guilt with no conviction recorded is spent immediately, so a s 10 dismissal generally will not appear. A conditional release order without conviction is spent once the order is completed, not before. A conviction appears until the crime-free period has run, ten years for an adult. Some roles are outside all of that, including working with children, teaching and policing, so if your job or your visa turns on the answer, say so at the first conference and not at the sentence.

Not before someone has read the police facts. A plea does reduce the sentence, and in the Local Court the size of that reduction is discretionary and turns on how early it comes, up to about 25 per cent. But the facts as the police have written them are often negotiable, and what is in them drives the penalty more than the plea does.

Guides on this

The first 48 hours after you are chargedWhat to say and what not to say. What happens at a first mention.Section 10 and conditional release ordersA section 10 is decided on the material you file, not on the day.Appealing a licence suspensionTwenty-eight days to appeal, and a narrow test once you get there.Police have attended but no charge has been laidWhat police can do before a charge is laid, and what a caution is.

No charge

What's happened?

Describe it in your own words.

Not sure where you stand?

The assistant works out the area of law and whether a time limit is running, then sends it to the solicitor the same day.

Free and low-cost options

Free and low-cost services that may be able to help.

See the list