Terms and Conditions

Please read this entire terms and conditions before submitting your information.

For purposes of these terms and conditions, you are the "Client" and Todd E. Tkach, P.C. is the "Law Firm" or "Attorney." Please be aware that submitting a payment and your information about your citation does not make you a client of Todd E. Tkach, P.C. We must first do a conflicts check to make sure that there are no conflicts of interest. If there are no conflicts of interest, we will send you an email or correspondence informing you that we have accepted your case. If there is a conflict of interest, we will send you an email or correspondence informing you that we cannot accept your case.

The Client, after completion of a conflicts check by the Law Firm, hereby retains and employs the Law Firm for representation involving a traffic law citation and/or various other Class "C" Misdemeanors.

IT IS AGREED THAT ALL FEES PAID HAVE BEEN EARNED IMMEDIATELY AND ARE NON-REFUNDABLE DUE TO THE FACT THAT OUR FIRM HAS UNDERTAKEN WORK TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR CASE AND HAS POSSIBLY FOREGONE OTHER MATTERS TO ASSIST YOU WITH YOUR CASE.

If a third party makes a payment on your behalf, that third party understands and agrees to the terms of this agreement. All third parties agree that if their credit card is used for payment of legal services on your behalf, Todd E. Tkach, P.C., after receiving and accepting payment, reserves the right to pursue legal action against that third party for procuring services for the Client, if the fees are disputed. Additionally, if litigation is necessary, the third party will be responsible for any and all attorney's fees associated with the claim.

If your ticket is in warrant status the Attorney shall post an attorney bond within four (4) working days of your submission of this transaction and delivery to the Law Office of a surety bond signed by you.

If you choose to take your case to trial an additional fee of $250.00 will be charged to compensate the Attorney for presenting your evidence to the court.

Deferred adjudication can be used to keep certain traffic tickets from going on your driving record. It involves entering a plea of no contest. The Court then defers judgment of your charge for a probationary period (anywhere from 1 day to 180 days, depending on the jurisdiction), which usually begins on the date that we enter a plea on your behalf. It requires that you must not get convicted of any traffic citations during the probationary period. You will also be required to pay a portion of the fine and possible court costs.

You may have to take the defensive driving school as a condition if your violation was for an excessive speed or you are under the age of 25. You must return all necessary paperwork to the Court within the time frame of the plea agreement. If you violate any of the terms of your deferred adjudication agreement, you will have to appear in the Court on a designated day after the court date to explain why you have not complied. In that event, you may be judged guilty of the original charge and assessed the maximum fine amount and court costs. The Attorney will not appear with you at that hearing. If a statement of compliance is required, you are responsible to return it to the court on the date the court has requested for the citation to remain off your record. If the court requires a driving safety certificate, proof of insurance and/or proof of valid driver's license, it is your responsibility to provide those documents to the court. If you fail to do this, the citation may appear on your record and you may be judged guilty of the charge and assessed the maximum fine.

Some courts are "courts of record," and some courts are "courts of non-record." If your citation or other Class C misdemeanor is pending in a "court of non-record," we may handle it in a different manner. We may not continue to handle your case at the trial court level. Rather, we appeal your case to the Dallas County Court of Appeals No. 1. Our experience reveals that we are more successful negotiating a favorable result at the appellate level. We will file an appeal. Eventually, the Court will notify us of the Appeal Bond amount. After being notified of that amount, we only have thirty-one (31) days to file the Appeal Bond, which must be signed by you. Before you complete this transaction, you will be required to either download or print an Appeal Bond for each case on which you are retaining the Law Firm. Then, you must sign the Appeal Bond where it says "Principal," and either mail or hand deliver the Appeal Bonds to us within two weeks. It is very important for you to understand that you must sign and return the Appeal Bonds to us. If you don't, we can't appeal your case. In that event, the Court will likely find you guilty of the charge and assess the maximum fine.

After we file the Appeal Bonds that you sign and return to us, the County Court of Appeals No. 1 will be scheduling your case on the Attorney Plea Docket. At that time, we will meet privately with the prosecutor for the Court of Appeals to discuss the charges against you. Please be advised that we will not be notifying you the date and time of our meeting with the prosecutor, but will send you a letter with the result of our meeting. If we can get your charges dismissed at that time, we will. Again, without written instructions from you to the contrary, we will enter a plea on your behalf and finalize your case when we meet with the prosecutor. If we cannot get your case dismissed, we will negotiate the best plea agreement that we can on your behalf, and will enter into an agreement to finalize your case. Once the judge approves the agreement, you will be bound by the terms. Please be assured that we will use our best efforts to obtain the best outcome on your case.

We may be able to obtain a dismissal of any charges of which you have proof of compliance. Specifically, if you are charged with No Insurance, Driving Without a Driver's License, Expired Inspection Sticker, or Expired Registration, please provide us with documentation to prove that you were in compliance at the time that your citation was issued. Sometimes, if within a few days from receiving your citation, if you obtain an Inspection Sticker or renew your registration, we can get the charges dismissed. Even if we can't obtain a dismissal, proof of "current" compliance will significantly help us to negotiate a more favorable plea agreement. Additionally, if your citation is for "No Insurance" or "No Driver's License," and you did not have insurance or a valid driver's license when the citation was issued, please provide us with proof of "current" insurance and/or a "current" driver's license. Many times, the prosecutor will not offer a plea of deferred adjudication on "No Insurance" and "No Driver's License" citations, unless you present proof that, on the day of your hearing, you have current insurance and/or a current driver's license. In fact, deferred adjudication may not be offered on any additional citations that you were issued at the time you received the "No Insurance" and/or "No Driver's License" citation, unless you show proof of current insurance and/or current driver's license. In that event, the negotiated plea will necessarily be "guilty." Please be advised that there are significant "surcharges" assessed by the Texas Department of Public Safety for convictions of "No Insurance and/or "No Driver's License." Therefore, it is extremely import for you to provide us with any compliance documents, including proof of current insurance and current driver's license as soon as possible. You must supply our office with such proof within ten (10) days of hiring the Law Firm.

Some violations are considered to be "non-moving" violations and will not appear on your driving record. These types of violations include expired inspection sticker, expired registration and seat belt violations. If your case is not dismissed, the Attorney may enter a plea of guilty on your behalf if the fine amount is reduced below that of a plea of no contest.

Client hereby appoints with full power of revocation and substitution, to any and all attorneys employed by or acting on behalf of the Law Firm, my true and lawful attorneys in fact, and Agent, upon the following terms and conditions. The Law Firm has my authorization to resolve my traffic law citations or other Class C misdemeanors on which I am retaining the Law Firm, within the Law Firm's sole discretion, to act in my name and on my behalf, to enter into negotiated plea agreements, enter pleas of guilty or no contest, execute and endorse, in my name, any documents to effectuate these purposes, and to act on my behalf and in my stead, in all matters related to the traffic law citations or other Class C misdemeanors on which I retain the Law Firm to represent me. If you cannot and/or fail to timely appear in Court on your court date, the Attorney will resolve your case, unless instructed otherwise by you, in writing. You are hereby providing the Attorney with your power of attorney to represent you according to this Authorization. If you fail to make a choice, in writing, delivered to the Law Firm at least two weeks prior to any court setting, on how you want the Attorney to resolve your case and/or you fail to appear for your trial or any other court setting, the Attorney shall request deferred adjudication probation as the first option. If you are not eligible for deferred adjudication the Attorney shall request defensive driving school. In many instances you must have supplied the attorney with proof of insurance and a copy of your current driver's license in order to receive either of these options. If you fail to supply the Law Office with a copy of your current insurance verification and driver's license, and you are not eligible for either of the above-referenced options, the Attorney will, nonetheless, enter a plea of no contest. In that event, the Court may find you guilty of the charge. If your charge is a non-moving violation, the Attorney may enter a plea of guilty. If you want the Law Firm to take your case to trial, you must notify us, in writing, at least two weeks prior to any court setting.

Our office is being hired to handle the criminal charges against you only. We shall not inform you about, negotiate, or pay any Department of Public Safety surcharges on your behalf. You as the client agree to research, negotiate and/or pay any DPS Surcharges and/or FTA fees associated with the underlying traffic law tickets or other Class C misdemeanor on which the Law Firm has agreed to represent you.

Courts understand that there will be situations where a court date must be rescheduled due to prior obligations and/or unforeseen circumstances. However, in certain Courts, the attorney must file a written motion for continuance well in advance of the trial date and must give a good reason for the request. The reset is discretionary with the Judge. If your case is reset, the State will probably obtain a resetting on the next court date if the police officer fails to appear. Our office will be happy to assist you with a request for continuance if you cannot appear in court. The Law Firm charges thirty-five dollars ($35.00) to get your case re-set. The request and fees must be received at least 10 days prior to your hearing date.

The Law Firm is under no obligation to maintain your file for more than two years. Your file shall be destroyed by the Law Firm within two (2) years after your case is finalized..

In the event any one of more of the provisions contained in this agreement shall for any reason, be held to be include, illegal, or unenforceable in any respect, such invalidity, illegality, or unenforceability shall not affect any other provision thereof and this agreement shall be construed as if such invalid, illegal, or unenforceable provision had never been contained herein.

This agreement constitutes the sole and only agreement of the parties hereto and supersedes any prior understandings or written or oral agreements between the parties respecting the within subject matter.

The Attorney is also authorized to obtain all other information and reports relative to the subject matter of this agreement, including but not limited to police and other investigative reports, statements of witnesses, and other evidentiary materials.

We cannot, will not and are not making any guarantee regarding the outcome or conclusion of the legal matter on which you retained the Law Firm. We make no express warranties concerning this transaction, and hereby expressly disclaim any implied warranties concerning it. It is expressly understood and agreed by the Client that no other representations have been made by the Law Firm to you except those set out in this Agreement.

Our office may associate with other lawyers, or law firms to handle the cases on which we were retained. Client's execution of this Agreement represents Client's written consent to the Law Firm's authority to associate with any other attorneys or law firms.

In an effort to control cost, and to continue to be proactive with most of our client's preferred method of communication, if you have provided our office with a valid e-mail address, all of our correspondence will be sent to that address. If you do not have a valid e-mail address, we will send you any and all correspondence via first class mail. It is strictly understood that this is a cooperative effort that we are undertaking. If at any time, you feel that you have not received an e-mail or correspondence from our office it is imperative that you contact us immediately so that we may make attempts to remedy any communication deficiencies. We take steps to insure that all e-mail correspondence is received by setting read receipt controls to determine exactly when you have received a particular message from our office. However, this is not 100% error free. Further, if we send first class mail to the address you have on file with our office and it is not returned as "undeliverable" we will assume that you have received it and have no way of knowing otherwise. For this reason, if more than 30 days has passed since hearing from our office we request that you take the proactive step of calling us for an update to insure that you do not miss any important information from our office that may have been sent but not received.