Choosing the right lawyer can be a very difficult decision. It is important that you consider a variety of factors, such as the attorney's experience with handling specific cases, the number of cases the attorney presently has pending, the attorney's familiarity with your judge and prosecutor, and finally, how much money the attorney is going to charge you.

Todd Hunger will investigate your case, go to court with you, represent you at arraignment, pre-trial conferences, and all other proceedings for as little as $750.00. Our attorneys can advise you what evidence the State will use against you and whether there are any legal grounds for the judge to prohibit the State from using that evidence. You can also be advised of potential sentences, how to complete probation, and whether you are facing incarceration. Further, our attorneys can conduct depositions of the State's witnesses and advise you of possible legal defenses.

Driving Under the Influence

What we will do FREE OF CHARGE

Perhaps the most painful aspect of a DUI case is the affect it has on your driver’s license. If your breath or blood alcohol level was above a .08 or if you refused the test, your license will automatically be suspended. Your ticket however, serves as a 10 day temporary driver's license. Within those 10 days you can appeal the suspension of you license. At the very least, your ten day temporary license will be extended until your appeal is heard. If you do not file an appeal of your license suspension within 10 days of your arrest, you will lose the right to appeal forever. When you come in to discuss your case with us at an initial consultation, we will go over the facts of the case with you, explain DUI law and the penalties you face in detail, including the affect it will have on your license and insurance premiums. Finally, we will file an appeal with DMV of your drivers license suspension. We will do all of this FREE OF CHARGE.  We will not put any pressure on you whatsoever to hire us.

Hiring us to Represent You
Generally there are three categories of people who should have a lawyer representing them when charged with DUI. Our fees vary depending on what category you case falls under.

1. It is Your First Offense and You Don't Want to Fight the Charge
For these cases there are still a number of things an attorney can do for you to minimize the damage. In most cases, there are steps an attorney can take to lessen the amount your insurance premiums will go up.  Also, I will conduct a hearing at DMV to appeal your license suspension. If successful, there will never be a day when you can not drive. If we are unsuccessful, we will help you obtain a hardship drivers license and explain to you what you can and can not legally do with that license. We will, of course, go with you to court to walk you through the process. Judges call the cases where people have attorneys first, so you will not have to sit in court all morning waiting for the judge to call your name. We will then walk you through the process of taking care of the things you need to do as part of your sentence in the most painless way possible. For these services we charge a flat, all-inclusive fee of $950.00. There are no costs associated with this representation except for court costs.

2. You Were Wrongfully Arrested and Want to Aggressively Defend the Case
Todd Hunger has litigated thousands of DUI cases. We have vast knowledge of both how the system works and of the people that work in the system. We have appeared in front of each of Sarasota’s County Judges, many times on DUI cases. When you come in for your initial consultation we will explain in detail what your possible defenses are and give you an honest assessment of the likelihood of success in your case. Of course, we will also appeal your driver’s license suspension, conduct the hearing, and attempt to get your license back. Should you choose to hire us to fully defend your case, we charge a flat, all-inclusive fee of $2,950.00 This fee does not cover costs associated with the case, for example, the payment for any expert witnesses who may be retained in rare cases with your consent, transcripts, court costs, etc.

3. It is Your Second, Third or Subsequent Offense, or Your Case Involves an Accident or Crash, and You are Facing Jail Time
These are the most difficult cases. Winning the appeal of your drivers license suspension is critical because you are now ineligible for hardship driver's license. Also, you are facing the most severe penalty, incarceration. If your case can be won on the facts, then it must be vigorously defended. However, if it appears that there is no viable defense, then you must have an attorney that can be very creative to try and come up with alternatives to jail time, such as treatment programs. The attorney must also be able to convince the prosecutor and judge to accept the alternative.   We are very familiar with all of the treatment programs in the area, the costs, and what restrictions each will place on your life and work schedule. We very familiar with all of the prosecutors and know which programs each judge is willing consider as alternative to jail time.  Our fees vary in these cases, depending on the severity of the case.