Counter offers explained | Off The Record

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Counter offers explained

Updated over a month ago

What is a counter offer?

After you book a case on Off The Record (OTR), your attorney reviews your case details before formally accepting it. If they find something that changes the complexity or risk of your case, they may send a counter offer — a request to adjust the terms before they accept. A counter offer can change your legal fee (higher or lower), the money-back guarantee, or both.

A counter offer is not a rejection. Your attorney is telling you they can still take your case, just under different terms — and the final decision is always yours.

🔒 Your consent is always required.

We never charge you more or change the terms of your case without your express approval. Nothing moves forward until you say so.

Why would your attorney send a counter offer?

Counter offers usually mean something about your case was not fully captured at booking. Common reasons include:

Your driving record Prior violations on your record can make a favorable outcome harder to negotiate, which may affect the fee or the money-back guarantee
Incorrect or missing booking info For example, you received 2 tickets at the same stop but entered only 1, or a detail about your charge was entered incorrectly
An undisclosed accident, CDL, or criminal charge Accidents carry insurance implications, commercial driver's license (CDL) cases put a livelihood at stake, and criminal charges require more court time — all of which raise the stakes and the workload
A missed court date or Failure to Appear (FTA) If your case has an FTA on record, extra legal work is needed to bring it back to active status
A court date that is very close With little time before the hearing, your attorney may need to act immediately with limited preparation. For more, see booking a case on short notice

How you'll know — and how to respond

We notify you by email and push notification when your attorney sends a counter offer. To accept it, log in to your account on the website at offtherecord.com — accepting a counter offer is not supported in the app yet.

You can still message your attorney with questions any time, through the case chat on the website or app.

Your options

You have 3 options when you receive a counter offer:

Ask questions Message your attorney in the case chat before deciding. If the counter offer was based on something that does not apply to you — say, they believed you hold a CDL and you do not — you can clarify or share documentation. Your attorney may revise the counter offer or accept your case at the original quote
Accept the counter offer Your case moves forward under the new terms, and your attorney officially accepts it and gets to work. If you plan to accept, do it as soon as you can — your attorney cannot start on your case until the counter offer is resolved
Decline the counter offer Your case stays in pending status, and you have a few paths forward — covered below

What happens to your payment

If the counter offer changes your legal fee, here is how payment works:

Higher fee You pay the difference between your original quote and the new fee — your total is always just the new fee, never the old fee and the new fee stacked on top of each other. How the charge appears on your statement depends on whether your original card hold is still active; see when your card is charged and how holds work for the details
Lower fee Yes, counter offers can go down. We refund you the difference. Lower-fee refunds are processed after we confirm the new amount with your attorney. For timing, see when to expect your refund

💡 Your total is always the new fee.

Say your quote was $200. If you accept a $300 counter offer, your total is $300 — typically your original $200 plus a $100 charge for the difference. If you accept a $150 counter offer, we refund you $50.

If the counter offer only changes the money-back guarantee, your payment stays the same.

If you decline

Declining a counter offer does not end your case — it stays in pending status while you decide what to do next. You have 3 paths:

Keep talking with your attorney Ask for more details or clarification, explain your side, or correct anything they got wrong. In many cases, the conversation ends with a revised counter offer — or the attorney accepting at the original quote
Request a different attorney If you are not comfortable with this attorney or the new terms, you can ask us to reassign your case. We will look for another available attorney, though their fee or terms may differ
Cancel your case If you decide not to continue, you can cancel your case and receive a full refund of your legal fee

If you decline and your attorney decides not to take the case, we reassign your case using the SmartMatch algorithm. SmartMatch may point to an attorney at the same fee, a lower fee, or a higher fee. If the new fee is the same or lower, the reassignment happens automatically — and if it is lower, we refund you the difference. If the new attorney's fee is higher, we contact you first, and your case is only reassigned once you accept the new fee.

If we cannot find another attorney, we cancel your case and refund your legal fee in full. For more, see what happens if an attorney declines your case.

✅ You can cancel any time while a counter offer is open.

Your case has not been accepted yet, so canceling always comes with a full refund of your legal fee — no questions asked.

Is there a deadline to respond?

There is no hard deadline, but sooner is better. Your attorney cannot start working on your case until the counter offer is resolved, and court deadlines do not wait. If we do not hear from you, we follow up by email, text, and phone. If we cannot reach you, we may reassign your case to another attorney or cancel it and refund your legal fee.

Still have questions?

If anything about your counter offer is unclear, message your attorney in the case chat — they can walk you through their reasoning. You can also contact our support team and we will help you sort it out.