OHTA.ca

Hi there,

I got a speeding ticket and hired a paralegal to represent me. courts date changed many times and finally the paralegal report to me even without informing me that he plead guity for me. I provided some evidences for him to attend trial for me. becaues it is far from Toronto. but the paralegal said it was for my best of intrests.

Now I want to overturn the plead. do I need a lawyer to do it for me or I can file the motion myself. and HOW?

any help will be appreciated.

You can apply yourself to reopen your case within 30 days of the conviction. You can give them the reasons you just provided here.

My son hired *company name edited out by forum* twice before for tickets he had gotten. One time was in New York State. Both times they settled by "plea bargain" without him seeing ANY disclosure from either situation. It was just "plead out" and he was told how much to pay.I guess he could probably could have fought that but didn't know what to do.

Now he has a Careless Driving charge and hired a real lawyer to fight this as he needs an aquittal or nothing in this, no plea bargain for this one.

Beware these paralegals.... make sure you know your options with them before you pay them! They will plead you down and not even let you know if you could have won or lost!

theweave wrote:Beware these paralegals.... make sure you know your options with them before you pay them! They will plead you down and not even let you know if you could have won or lost!

My experience is that most paralegals are pretty clear up front about your options and what type of resolution they recommend. They will also consult with you in regards to any offered plea deals prior to accepting them, unless you've signed a waiver authorizing otherwise. I'd say it's less beware paralegals and more caveat emptor.

theweave wrote:Now he has a Careless Driving charge and hired a real lawyer to fight this as he needs an aquittal or nothing in this, no plea bargain for this one.

Careful with that. If your lawyer is sure you can beat the charge, go to trial. Otherwise, careless is about the worst offence you can be convicted of under the HTA in terms of insurance implications. It's one of the charges where I personally think it can be wise to take a plea if there is any doubt about the outcome.

theweave wrote:Both times they settled by "plea bargain" without him seeing ANY disclosure from either situation. It was just "plead out" and he was told how much to pay.I guess he could probably could have fought that but didn't know what to do.

Paralegals in Ontario are governed by the same organization as lawyers: The Law Society of Upper Canada.

If your son had seen the disclosure, would he have known what to do with it? Do you?

How do you know that the paralegal's decision to plead it out instead of fight it was the wrong thing to do?

Most of the time paralegals follow fairly standard procedures. They get the disclosure, review it, and decide if there is any reasonable opportunity for them to fight the charge. If there is none, they will plea-bargain. Most traffic offences are NOT beatable and the best option is plea-bargaining. Sometimes paralegals screw up, but I've also seen a few lawyers completely botch proceedings in traffic court because they are not sufficiently familiar with the case law, the rules or the system.