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Much-Ticketed Teen Now a N.Y. Traffic Court Defense King

By Martha Neil

May 2, 2008, 10:26 pm CDT

Being a bad driver as a teenager helped Matthew Weiss make a good living as a lawyer.

Now the head of a Manhattan law practice familiar to residents of the metropolitan area from radio ads, the 46-year-old Weiss spent the first four years of his legal career doing what he refers to as “ivory tower-type work” after graduating from Hofstra University School of Law. But Weiss, admittedly a capitalist at heart, wanted to run his own business. From personal experience as a much-ticketed teen with a lead foot, he knew that a good lawyer could be crucial in traffic court, recounts the New York Law Journal, in an article reprinted by New York Lawyer (reg. req.).

His 17-year-old law firm, which charges flat fees of $350 and $500 to defend ordinary individuals and commercial drivers in traffic ticket cases, respectively, now does well enough to require the help of an associate, four staffers and 20 local counsels throughout New York. Meanwhile, the work has other advantages, too—it is low-stress and involves helping others, he says.

Weiss even offered some advice for free, to readers who don’t have his level of legal—or personal—experience with traffic cases:

“Always fight your case, even if you’re guilty,” he says. “The People have the burden. To grease the wheels of the system, [the People] will make deals, even if they have a good case against you.”