General FAQ’s
1. Why choose Barton& Doomy?
Answer: What sets us apart is our firm’s personality. We are a blue collar trial firm, representing the rights of the people. Every member of our staff has a straightforward and genuine personality. We’ll let you know exactly where we think you stand, and we aren’t afraid to go to trial to protect your rights.
2. Do you have an area of law you specialize in?
Answer: No. We are more of a general practice firm where we both like to take a variety of different types of cases such as divorce, custody, child support, contracts, business law and criminal law. That being said, both Lawyers have their own unique backgrounds and areas of strength.
3. What’s the best way to get ahold of your office?
Answer: Email us at Barton.doomy.law@gmail.com. We have a number of clients only one paralegal, and two busy lawyers who are in court every day so it's not possible for us to always answer the phones. However, all our staff monitors the email even when we are in Court, and can usually answer those much quicker than we can return phone calls.
4. What’s my Court date?
Answer: First and foremost it is YOUR Responsibility to keep up with your court date and you can actually look it up online at www.nccourts.gov. However, We try to keep all of our clients informed about their Court dates with reminders of some sort. If you have a question on your Court date don’t hesitate to contact us by email as that is the easiest way to get ahold of our office, or simply look it up at the NC Courts website above.
5. Can you continue my case?
Answer: Continuances aren’t a right, they’re a courtesy from the court so they aren’t unlimited. There has to be a good reason for them, but usually we can continue your case for us and you to prepare to meet the situation.
Traffic Citations:
1. What can you guys do for me that I can’t do myself?
Answer: First, In order to do things for yourself you will need to attend Court, which involves time away from family and or lost work.
Secondly, our attorneys have education and experience in dealing with traffic matters and the complexity of the traffic laws. Our attorneys know how to read your driving record and interpret the potential consequences of your ticket. What many people don’t realize is that there are usually at least a couple different statutes involved in simple traffic violations, along with collateral consequences such as insurance premium increases, and your driving record plays an important part in how North Carolina DMV treats any violation.
Third, our attorneys have experience practicing in the different counties and are familiar with the policies of the individual district attorneys for those counties. This allows our attorneys to advise you on what results are reasonable and the possibilities you can expect in each county.
You are paying for our education, experience, and analysis of your ticket, speeding charge, etc…along with us going to Court so that you don’t have to spend valuable time away from home or work.
2. Do I still have to go to Court?
Answer: It depends. Yes, we know that’s a really unsatisfying answer but truly it depends on what type of charge you are facing. Traffic violations fall into two categories: waivable and non-waivable offenses.
For waivable offenses we can go to Court without you having to be there. Some examples include:
- Speeding tickets, Reckless driving
- Registration and inspection tickets, window tint
- Accident tickets like failure to reduce speed or unsafe movement.
- NOL or No operators license.
Non-Waivable offenses where you have to go to court include:
- DWLR or Suspended, revoked license tickets (though sometimes we can work it out with the DA so you don’t have to appear).
- DWI, Drunk Driving charges
- Passing stopped School bus tickets
- Hit/run, or fail to report accident tickets.
3. Why Can’t I just talk to the District Attorney myself?
Answer: You can, but the District Attorney’s office cannot and will not give you legal advice the way we can. Part of why you hire us is for our expertise and knowledge of the system and the law. We can evaluate your case and recognize if there are problems with it, the District Attorney’s office can’t and won’t help you to recognize where legal issues in your charges may exist.
4. What are my options for my speeding ticket?
Answer: This is going to depend on two things:
- The speed you are alleged to be going
- The County that you got the ticket in.
- Rowan County: The DA will not reduce any ticket where the speed is 95 m.p.h. Or more, under any circumstances. Anyone that tells you otherwise is likely unfamiliar with the policies of this County because it simply does not get reduced here. This means that your options are to plead guilty to the speeding and allow us to prepare a driving Privelege for you (because DMV is going to revoke your license), or you can have a trial on your speeding charge and hope that there is some issue with the case that reduces the charge or leads to acquittal. Speeding trials are very often unsuccessful because the law is pretty harsh. North Carolina is an absolute speed limit state where even going 1m.p.h. Over the limit is enough for a ticket.
- In other counties that we cover such as Cabarrus, Davidson, Davie, Iredell, & Forsyth Counties there are additional options such as driving school, higher fines, etc… that can have an impact on what the district attorney offers and doesn’t automatically involve a suspension of your driver’s license as happens in Rowan County.
Each district Attorney’s office gets to set their policies on how they handle things like speeding tickets. Some are more strict than others and pretty much all of them look at your driving record to some degree as part of their process. So the better the record the better the outcome typically.
Our goal is always to provide the best possible outcome to you under the circumstances and to minimize or eliminate any points on your driver’s license or insurance increases.
5. I got a ticket for going 95 mph or more, what can you do for that?
Answer: This depends on the County you are charged in.
Criminal Charges
Criminal Charges include all types of cases that aren’t really traffic cases but can sometimes include traffic components like drugs in a car, fleeing to elude arrest, possession of stolen vehicles, concealed guns or weapons in a car. More common examples are; drug possession, assault, assault on a female, damage to property, resisting officers.
1. Do I really need a lawyer for this?
Answer: “ He who represents himself has a fool for a client” Abraham Lincoln. Not having a lawyer to represent you on a criminal charge is incredibly unwise, let us stand between you and protect you from the power of the State.
2. Do I have to come to Court on these?
Answer: YES!!!. If you don’t then the Court may issue an Order for your arrest and the County Sheriff will provide a ride to Court for you. And don’t be late!!!! Court starts at 9am sharp in district court and 9:30-10am sharp for superior court.
3. Am I going to go to Jail?
Answer: This depends on the facts of your case such as your charge and your criminal record. We don’t sugarcoat our appraisal of your case so you’ll know exactly where you stand.