Traffic ticket lawyers for Syracuse and Central New York

Speeding, cell phone tickets, moving violations, points on your license and driving-while-suspended charges throughout Onondaga and Cortland counties.

The fastest way to reach us about a ticket is to text a photo of it to 315-345-4128, or email it to traffic@cdlfpllc.com.

What a ticket actually costs

The fine is the smallest part. A conviction puts points on your New York license, reach six within eighteen months and the DMV adds its own separate assessment fee on top of the fine; reach eleven inside twenty-four months and you are facing suspension. Your insurer sees the conviction too, and premium increases typically last for years. That is how a ticket that costs a few hundred dollars at the courthouse ends up costing thousands. The two windows are different lengths and the point values changed in February 2026 —here is what every violation is worth now.

It is also why fighting one is usually worth it. The goal is a reduction to a lesser or non-moving violation that keeps points off your record entirely, read more in Do I need a lawyer for a speeding ticket in New York?

By ticket type

What a ticket carries, and what can be done with it, varies a good deal by charge:

• Speeding — VTL § 1180. Fines, jail exposure and points by tier, plus the three-convictions-in-eighteen-months revocation rule.
• Suspended license (VTL § 511) — Aggravated Unlicensed Operation is a misdemeanor, not a ticket, and since February 2026 it also carries 11 points.
• Reckless driving (VTL § 1212), also a misdemeanor, defined in unusually open language, 5 points.
• Cell phone and texting, a small fine and 5 points, which is the same as reckless driving.
• Points and insurance, what every violation is worth after the February 2026 changes, and how a conviction reaches your premium.
• Out-of-state drivers, the 48-hour mail-in plea window, whether you have to travel back, and what a default judgment costs eight years later.
• CDL and commercial drivers, the .04 limit, the federal disqualification periods, and why no court in New York can keep a conviction off your record.

Which court is your ticket in?

The court is decided by where the officer wrote the ticket, not where you live, and it changes how the matter proceeds and how long it takes:

How it works with us

• Text a photo of the ticket. We tell you the points it carries and what we think we can do with it. That costs nothing.
• In most local courts we can appear on your behalf, so you do not miss work to sit in traffic court.
• We negotiate with the prosecutor for a reduction, often to a non-moving violation with no points at all.

Where we appear

Syracuse and the town and village courts across Onondaga and Cortland counties — Cicero, Clay, Salina, Liverpool, DeWitt, Cortlandville and the rest. If your ticket came with a DWI or any criminal charge, that is our criminal defense practice and we handle it the same way.

Serving both counties

We work out of two offices — Cicero, about ten miles north of downtown Syracuse, and Cortland. Between them we cover Onondaga and Cortland counties and the towns in between.

Points and penalties on these pages reflect New York law as of the dates noted, including the DMV point changes effective February 16, 2026, and are cited to the state's own published tables. Penalties change. This page is general information about New York law, not legal advice about your ticket.

Other things we handle