Summer is gone in a few weeks, this month is when people go back to school. On September 18th (a Thursday), MyTrafficMan.net will be sponsoring/hosting a Back to School night at the new theater on Barkley. The first 100 students (with ID) that watch a demonstration on how to use the app get free tickets to a movie. Everyone that watches the demonstration will get entered to win tickets to the Hawks vs Denver game. We are expecting 300-500 people to get entered. We will be doing the drawing for the Hawks tickets at the end of the night (for us). There will be a shuttle to/from the game and two tickets, all you have to do is watch the demonstration. Once again, that's 2:30-6:30 on Thursday, September 18th.
Don't forget to stop by the Greek Festival this weekend, grab a Gyro and maybe catch some dancing. The sandwich is delicious and it's a great community event. Father Michael stopped by the MyTrafficMan office and checked to make sure we were going to stop by.
Legal Superbowl
The Seahawks are the talk of the state and the next few games will make all the difference. The Seahawks are a unique team from a diverse background. Many people claimed Russell was too short to play and Coleman was deaf so he couldn’t play football. They are like a rag tag fleet that were brought together and are so strong together.
Along similar lines it was a challenge for Ziad to become the first
attorney
in his family in the United States. It took 6 years to get buckled down, pass the bar exam, and get licensed to practice law because of needing to pay bills and get caught up. This effort took steadfast determination.
Similar to the Seahawks our team came together from different backgrounds ranging from medical coding to realty to from great paralegals. Our team is very unique. As a law firm we are unique. We want to be a
legal care
team. We want people to see that we care. Not just to the end of the case, but after the case is over as well unlike most cases where the
attorney
gets involved and is done when the case is done.
We want
Bellingham
to be our flagship
legal care center
. Our ragtag team has really come together to do that. People enjoy working with us. People enjoy coming by. It is serious work we do. We are very competent at what we do. We focus on
traffic related violations
. We’re not trying to do people’s wills. We’re not trying to advice people on contract relationships. We’re talking about
traffic tickets, DUI offenses, traffic related injuries, auto accidents
, helping people get through the beginning of their problem to the end of their case and beyond.
There are processes to go through. We want people to come in and get an explanation. They think it’s overwhelming, they don’t want to deal with it, and we see it over and over again. You can’t just hide from it. Come in, deal with it! It’s not as intimidating or as expensive as you would think and it’s good information if you come in to talk to us.
The next five years while we establish our
legal care center
is like the legal Super Bowl. It is 4 quarters or five years, however you want to look at it. Each quarter we need to gain certain ground and we’re setting goals for ourselves to do better for our clients. We want people to get used to thinking of us as not just a
law firm
, but a care center, a
legal care center
. Come in for your
traffic related violations
, let us give it some attention, and let us care for you. We have bills to pay and we do need to charge for our service. But, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a part of our service we can give you that doesn’t have to cost you anything. We encourage people dealing with anything from a simple
traffic ticket
to a serious
criminal offense
or
DUI
to give us a call and get some advice on it. We’ll make sure to get you information to get you through it.
We also help people across the border with our
legal care center
. The impact on
Canadian
citizens is different than
Washington
residents. If they get a
traffic ticket
down here and don’t take care of it then their license might be suspended for not paying a ticket. A lot of people don’t realize this. This can lead to being arrested and then we hear about it. People should be aware that if you get a
traffic ticket
or get accused of something while down here you can hire someone to get you through it so that you can go on back to where you live.
Regardless of the traffic issue people can call us. If it’s just about getting relicensed to complicated matters such as being investigated for a crime. If you’ve been injured in an
auto accident
you can call us. We have a team setup for each one of those areas. They’ll talk to you and explain what you need to do. We’re always impressed by the extra work those teams put in. It’s not surprising because it’s how much they care. But, we’ve seen them go through and do the research on the case before we’re even hired on a case because they’re really interested in really giving the client an explanation.
My Traffic Man Infraction App Rollout Update
At MyTrafficMan App demonstrations the crowds keep growing, keep coming over to the tent to ask what it’s about and how it works. It started as a slow trickle, but has consistently grown each time at
Downtown Sounds
all July,
Skagit speedway, and Deming speedway
. Of course the attendees also get to win some great prizes, but you can see on their faces that they’re actually paying attention. They actually want to know what it is.
The roll out has allowed us to refine the app, answer some questions, and address some bugs. One source of confusion is people try to go to the app store on their phone, but we’re an independent app, a web app. You don’t have to download or install anything on your phone. You just have to go to mytrafficman.net/app to start using the software.
At the demonstrations we have been walking people through getting to the site, logging in with their Amazon account, submitting their ticket information, giving us a $199 payment, and agree. Once they submit their information we take over from there.
One concern some have is they don’t have an Amazon account because they don’t shop online. You’re not necessarily shopping through Amazon; you’re paying through Amazon similar to PayPal. It’s very secure and that’s why we chose Amazon. We researched the best and most secure way to get that information and not only that, but Amazon is local just down in
Seattle
as well as known for their security.
Fortunately it’s so easy to create and account in our app. All you have to do is click a link underneath the login for Amazon, enter in a name, email address, and password. All we get from Amazon is your name and email address. After that it steps you right into the process of getting us your ticket information. We ask for the county and court stated on the ticket, the ticket number, and the date the violation occurred. We ask the date because you have 15 days to respond and if we notice it’s too late you’ll get an alert to call our office right away. Some people have called saying they run into this alert even though they already responded their ticket to the court and then used our app. This is why it’s great to do the roll out and address these types of issues that pop up. So now you’ll be able to tell us if you’ve already responded to the ticket in the app.
The next step is to review the user agreement and pay us the $199. It’s that $199 that we’re going to use to hire a handpicked
attorney
in that area to
fight your ticket
. They’ll analyze the case, respond for you, and go to court for you. If you were to contact these same
lawyers
directly you get charged a lot more. The beauty of this ticket site is how much of the process it automates for the
attorneys
. After you fill in your information it generates documents for the
attorney
. Then that
attorney
has them waiting to turn into the court after they approve it. They also get an email saying they have a client. Whereas you get an email from Amazon saying you submitted the payment and an email from My Traffic Man Corp. that says your ticket has been assigned to this
attorney
along with their contact information. It’s a lot of work and what took us 10 months to develop all of this. But, it’s so much work that affiliate
attorneys
are willing to carve off a good chunk of what they would normally charge. It saves them at least 30 minutes of administrative time. That’s why we call this a software technology. PickIt 4UR Ticket technology is something that is very unique in the market.
What we’re trying to do with My Traffic Man is to be very relevant to the market and what the market needs. In fact I think we are so relevant to the market that we are reviving a previously unrepresented market who hopelessly feels their case is a lost cause. Those people are now stopping and thinking maybe it is not a lost cause. Maybe they should get a little bit of advice on this.
I also believe that all
attorneys
in the industry are going to benefit from this type of technology. This is part of a much bigger business model, the
legal care center
model where
attorneys
can centralize their resources so they can do more with less. They can offer more to the client when they need it. The legal care center model is about cooperative marketing and cooperative resources so that we each do what we’re best at.
Many people ask if paying the $199 means their ticket is going to get dismissed. For $199 you’re getting somebody that will respond to your ticket so you don’t have to take a day off work to go to court. They’ll analyze the facts and legal issues for you in order to make sure they get you the best possible outcome. Ethically we cannot guarantee a dismissal, but we can guarantee you’re going to get the best work on that case with regard to analyzing the legal issues. You will get a technically proficient
attorney
that has a deep pool of resources to get you the best possible outcome.
DUI Emphasis Patrols During the Holidays and Marijuana Legalization in Washington State.
Big update about the “Slow Down and Read” fundraiser! All along I had set a secret goal of $5000, and we raised about $5,700! I am so happy that we were able to be a part of this fundraiser. They apparently didn't realize that we would be donating all of the proceeds as well, so when Jennifer thanked me for the $1700 they had received in donations ad was letting me know they were going to be sending out the charitable donation forms to everyone, I told her she would have to send one to us because we were sending her the full $4,100 from the proceeds! She was blown away. This has been such a great experience and I hope to be a part of it again next year. We are going to continue to offer a 15% discount to supporters of the
Whatcom County
Library Foundation, so if you are one of those wonderful people who donate to them and you get a ticket in
Washington State
, we will take 15% off our standard rate.
I love
Deming Speedway
. It is such a great family of people who love racing on the short sprint car track. 3 years ago I got to meet young Tristan Thomas, who was 12 years old, going around the track at 70-80 m.p.h. This kid is shifting gears and racing, and he doesn't even have a driver’s license! I had the opportunity to meet with him and his father Jade Thomas of Thomas Racing and was able to sponsor them at the
Deming Speedway
. The fans and contestants are so supportive of each other, and it’s one of the few places that is teaching these young drivers to be responsible the track. There are strict rules to follow and safety regulations. We've been fortunate enough to be out there the past few years, and Tristan took 1st place in the 600R class this year! I want to send my thanks to Tristan, his father Jade, of course his mom who is always worried about him, and to the
Deming Speedway
for letting us be a part of it. I am looking forward to being a part of it again next year.
Right now we are seeing
“DUI emphasis patrols”
going on around the holidays from Thanksgiving through the New Year. They are bringing in officers from
Snohomish, Skagit,
and from other areas just to enforce these patrols. So don’t be surprised if you get pulled over in
Whatcom County
by an officer from
Marysville
. They are rotating around to different areas to help out with this program. And, back in September, the
DUI penalties
increased so a lot of people out there aren't aware that they may be required to install an
ignition interlock device
or even a
transdermal ankle monitor (SCRAM device)
, have to start meeting with a probation officer after their first hearing, post bail, etc. And these are requirements by the law for these to be installed if you want a chance to be free during their trial. These are definitely things that people should be getting advice on before their first hearing. We’ve created MyTrafficMan.net to be a source of information about knowing your rights in these types of situations. We encourage people to read through the FAQ’s, run through the “You Should Know” link, and always feel free to call us at the office for some free advice. We are willing to give people consultations, meet with them about upcoming court appearances, and inform them on what they need to expect.
They also recently increased the penalty requirements for when there are children in the car during a
DUI infraction
. This is the holiday season, so lots of people will be going to events with their families, maybe they’ll have a glass of wine, and maybe they won’t feel like they are intoxicated. But this can very quickly become a situation where CPS becomes involved because you get pulled over and investigated for a
DUI
. Or it could put you in a situation where you face an additional year in prison just for making this lapse in judgment. We want people to be careful, err on the side of caution, and don’t take the risk. If you make plans to go out this holiday season, please make plans to get home without driving if you intend on drinking. It is so easy to be distracted for a split second while driving, but if you swerve, get pulled over, and have the odor of alcohol on your breath you’ll face a
DUI investigation
. But, if you end up in that situation we really encourage you to call regardless of what day it is. Nobody wants to start the New Year like that. Imagine being ordered by the court to install an
interlock device
and meet with a
probation department
within 5 days or face being in jail while your case is pending. Not to mention that many people can lose their job over a
DUI
. I like to tell my clients that the best thing they can tell their employer is that they have hired an
attorney
who has advised them not to say anything about the case and who is going to contest the allegations on their behalf.
Since the
legalization of marijuana
in December of 2012, we are now seeing the new changes in laws based around that, which are still a bit hazy. Just like
alcohol, marijuana
is an intoxicant, and can impair your ability to drive. So, even if you aren't at the 5ng limit set by the new law, you could still be accused of a
DUI
for being affected by the intoxicant. Also, if you are under 21 it is still not legal so any trace of
marijuana
could find you in a
DUI
situation. So if you find yourself under investigation for a
DUI, be it for alcohol or marijuana
, I can’t say enough how important it is to make that call to get some free advice.
In a previous episode, we introduced my
Legal Care
team, and I am so thrilled to have them be a part of MyTrafficMan.net. I want our
Bellingham
office to become a flagship center for
legal care
and the
traffic legal care center
. So, people who are trying to
get re-licensed
, people who don’t understand what their
ignition interlock device requirements
are, or people who have been
injured in an auto accident
and don’t know how to apply for benefits through their car insurance, can come in and get advice. I am putting together a proposal for a business model that would turn MyTrafficMan.net into a
