Most cases resolve within one to three months

There is no single timeline that fits every case. How long yours takes depends on your state, the individual court, the type of violation, and the details of your case.

As a general guide:

These ranges are not guesses — they come from hundreds of thousands of resolved cases on OTR across all 50 states. Typical timelines run about a month in Nevada and Louisiana, around two months in New Jersey and Virginia, two to three months in Washington, Texas, Georgia, and Florida, and four to five months in California — our slowest large market.

State rules also shape the timeline. Some courts open a case with an arraignment date, while others set a written response deadline instead. And a few states, like New Jersey and Massachusetts, generally require you to appear in court alongside your attorney, which ties your case to the court's hearing calendar.

Statewide numbers can also hide slow courts. New York cases typically resolve in about three months, but New York City courts are famously slower — cases there can stay open for a year or longer. A long NYC case is nothing to worry about: your attorney monitors it the entire time. Many of our NYC clients forget about their case entirely until a message from their attorney arrives a year later, often with the news that the case was dismissed.

For what happens in the first days after you book, see what to expect after booking.

The due date on your ticket is not your case deadline

One of the most common misunderstandings we see: the due date printed on your ticket is not the date your case must be resolved by. It is simply the deadline for telling the court what you want to do — pay the ticket and plead guilty, or contest the charge.

If you contest, the court needs your answer by the due date. The case itself is then resolved later, on the court's schedule — usually months later. No case resolves by the due date, and the court does not expect it to.

An open case is not a problem

A long timeline can feel unsettling, but an open case simply means the process is working. The ticket is not committed to your driving record while your case is open. Your record only updates once the case is resolved — and with a favorable outcome, it may never appear at all. Your insurance is generally unaffected while your case is open.

How updates from your attorney work

Your attorney works on your case in the background and reaches out when there is something meaningful to report, rather than sending frequent check-ins. Updates typically cluster around court dates:

All communication happens in the case chat in your OTR account. If you send your attorney a message, you can expect a response within 1–2 business days.

Court dates move — often on purpose

Many cases involve more than one court date, and hearings are often rescheduled. Courts move dates on their own, and your attorney may request a continuance to prepare a stronger defense or to keep negotiating with the prosecutor.

Delay is also a deliberate defense strategy — one of the most common in traffic law. In many courts, if the citing officer does not appear at the hearing, the chances of a dismissal rise significantly. Pushing a court date further into the future makes it less likely that the officer shows up, so your attorney may reschedule several times on purpose — sometimes precisely because they know the officer is in the courthouse that day. And over a long enough timeline, officers resign, retire, or move to new assignments. An officer who has left the job is unlikely to appear to defend an old ticket, which makes a dismissal much more likely.

So a case that keeps moving is rarely a stalled case. A rescheduled hearing extends your timeline, but it is often a sign of strategy at work — not a sign that something is wrong.

And in most cases, rescheduling costs you nothing but patience: your attorney handles court appearances on your behalf, so most customers never set foot in a courtroom.

When your case is resolved

Once an outcome is reached — a dismissal, a reduction, or another resolution — your attorney resolves the case in your OTR account and you receive a summary of the outcome.

Some outcomes come with follow-up steps, such as paying a reduced fine, attending traffic school, or submitting documentation. Your attorney will give you clear instructions and deadlines. Completing these steps on time protects the outcome your attorney secured — and keeps your money-back guarantee valid on eligible traffic tickets.

Every case is different, so treat the timelines on this page as typical ranges rather than a prediction for your specific case.

When to check in

It is always appropriate to ask for a status update — send your attorney a message in the case chat any time. If your case feels stalled, remember that delays are common and rarely a bad sign — court backlogs and rescheduled hearings account for most of them.

Contact our support team if a court date has passed and you have not received an update within 3 business days, or if your attorney has not responded to your message within 2 business days. We monitor every case and will step in — here is what to do if your attorney is not responding.