TVC...scam?

Complain to the County Bar where he is from. They handle all claims and if he screwed up he can get disbarred if the right people don't like him and want to do it.

 

No, this is what you get for no paying attention till it was to late.

 

You couldn't pay me to be a member of any of those pre- paid lawyer deals. They're ALL scams IMHO. All they are, are a monthly fee for a lawyer referral service in the jurisdiction of the issue. EVERY STATE BAR HAS THIS FOR FREE!!!! They agree to a minimum fee, to be on the list. Other fees added.

Do yourself a huge favor and dump any prepaid lawyer deal. If you get in a jam and need to fight something out of your state, just go online or phone the State Bar Lawyer referral for that state, look for an attorney in the closest town to where the ticket (court case) will be heard (court speak for talking to the Judge) and make your best deal with a local lawyer yourself.

All the rest is hype that never pans out.

Bet ya a dollar the service promised "prepaid" attorney fees but you still had to pony up some dough for the attorney part. If not you got what you paid for . . . nothing. Voicemail. Had to take care of yourself without a lawyer anyway. What did you pay the service for? A name to call and not call you back?

I'm sorry this happened to you, but IMO these "prepaid" services are a total rip-off. Attorneys don't work that way. Not the ones you need to make your case anyway.

Put it in driver terms: You are an owner op. You got your name on every load board. You are a one truck businessman and need every load you can get. You get a call from a $4.50/ mile customer on Ca Ching Board. You roll.

Halfway into the trip you get a call from $0.80/ mile "I just need some fuel for a back haul" board and you may or may not be able to work it in. You don't know for sure yet. Ca Ching isn't finished. So you commit with an "I'll work something out" mind.

Ca Ching has a hitch, nothing major; it's still REAL good money, but it's gonna cut into "Backhaul".

WHO are you gonna attend to and answer every call and do your DO for? The one that paid you (YOU PERSONALLY, not a referral service at super cut rate); or the "backhaul maybe pay"?

Think of those prepaid legal services like you think of a rapist broker and I think you'd be right about "spot on". Once in a while it works OK, but mostly it's YOU getting bent over.

Strong opinion but most of my family is in Law. I'm the Rebel black sheep.

 

As an IL resident, I can assure you, that any ticket you received will have had a court date on it from the start. That being said, you should have just contacted a local attorney or even gone to the court date yourself if possible. It usually isn't too difficult to get court supervision if you have a clean driving record.

 

These are all a scam. TVC, Open Road, Drivers Legal Plan, etc. the best thing to do is just drive safe and be done with it. Now, I get where you're coming from, you made a big mistake and learned from it and womaned up and took your lumps. Sometimes these things happen and your company kept you so obviously you're a good driver for them. But don't fall for these "legal plans". They are there for the same reason truck stops carry Duck Dynasty, lighter/flashlight/radio combinations, t shirts that glorify trailer park behavior, etc, they are aimed at the lowest common denominator. People who are screw ups anyway. Drop TVC like a bad habit. They aren't there to help you or any other driver. They are there to make money, and they do it with a dog and pony show. Good luck and drive safe.

 

Being a full time police officer and part time trucker I'll tell you my opinion of prepaid legal. Not worth much. Read fine print. The even fave prepaid for police still not a good deal. In most cases you can go to traffic court and get the same thing done yourself as the attorney. And it did not cost anything.

 

Contact TVC an tell them what happend and who the lawyer was. Im a part of US Legal, never had any problems out of them. They even played a big part in helping me when My credit card info was stolen. As far as what you should have done... Who cares its over and done with. Focus on the future and learn from the experience. Safe travels.

 

Prepaid legal is a wasted step and wasted money. A normal driver might need a lawyer a few times in his/her career if any. They don't fly all over the country but subcontract to an attorney in the area of the court if they don't have an affiliate. A driver can do all that stuff themselves. You can google and find a traffic attorney anywhere in the country. The one time I needed one in RI I called and he was johnny on the spot. I didn't even have to be there as they can represent you on your behalf.

Even a day before you could of told the clerk you request a continuance. Tell them you have the flu or anything. I think you are allowed 2 or 3 of them. In fact that is one strategy traffic attorneys use is to keep putting the court date off and hopefully the officer doesn't show up by the last one.

Have you learned anything from the accident itself? That's more important than any ticket.