Charged with drink driving?
Talk to a lawyer today for $230
By the end of that appointment you'll know what you're facing, what your options are, and what it will cost. The published market for a drink-driving defence in New Zealand is $2,000 to $4,000. Ours starts at $460.
✔ 30+ years experience
✔ Fixed fees, published
✔ Anywhere in NZ, by Zoom
We read the file before you decide anything.
That's the job. We request your full police disclosure and read it before any plea is entered.
Then you're told the sentence you're realistically looking at, whether anything went wrong at the roadside, and which application on this page is worth making. You deal with Melanie directly — no juniors, no hand-offs — and if you're outside Auckland it's all by Zoom, including the court appearance.
Why this needs someone who's done it before
Arguing the machine was wrong is almost never a defence. What sometimes works is the procedure around the test — your right to a lawyer before you blow, the ten-minute period afterwards, the timing, the certificates. Small departures don't matter; the test is reasonable compliance. Some failures end the prosecution outright. Which of those yours is isn't something you can see from the paperwork unless you read these every week.
What we do on a drink-drive charge
Your full police disclosure requested and read, before any plea
The EBA procedure sheet gone through line by line
The sentence you're realistically looking at, in plain numbers
Melanie in court for you — by Zoom if you're outside Auckland
A limited licence, section 94 or section 106 applied for where it's worth it — each has its own fixed fee, listed below
A fixed price in writing before any work starts, payable in instalments
Told straight if you don't need a lawyer at all
Charged per appointment and per appearance, not by the hour — the rates are in the next section. Same-day and after-hours appointments. Phone, Zoom or in person in Auckland CBD.
What this costs, before you start
Nobody rings a lawyer about a drink-driving charge without worrying what it's going to cost. So here it is, on the page, before you call.
A straightforward guilty plea — one appointment and one appearance at the Auckland District Court — is $460. Add the one-off admin fee that covers the paperwork, the phone calls and dealing with the police prosecutor and it's $690.
The published market for the same charge in New Zealand is $2,000 to $4,000.
We haven't found a lower published fee anywhere in New Zealand for a lawyer who actually appears in court for you. Checked August 2026 — if you find one, tell us.
You'll be given a fixed price before any work starts, and you can pay it in instalments.
Legal service fees
Base service
Phone, Zoom or office appointment - $230
Court appearance, Auckland District Court - $230
Other greater Auckland courts - $287
One-off admin fee: paperwork, phone calls, police liaison - $230
More complicated cases
Defended hearing, Auckland District Court (plus $230 per preparation step) - $1,725
Third or subsequent charge: sentencing submissions - (5 × $575) - $2,875
Court fees
Limited licence application after a drink-drive disqualification - $175 + $69
New plastic licence from NZTA ~$48.70
These are paid to the court and to NZTA, and are separate from legal fees. Current as at August 2026.
Which one of these are you?
Drink driving isn't one situation. Find yours below, the price and the process are different for each.
It's my first charge and I just want it over with.
Most first charges end in a guilty plea, a fine and a disqualification of six months or more. The job is to make sure the disqualification is as short as the law allows, the sentence is the lightest available, and you get back on the road quickly afterwards.
From $460
I can't afford a conviction — it'll cost me my job.
A section 106 discharge means no conviction is recorded at all. It's granted where the consequences of a conviction would be out of all proportion to the offending. It has to be argued properly, with evidence, and it isn't automatic.
$2,875 in 5 × $575, plus $1,150 if granted.
I think the police got something wrong.
They might have. There are more than twenty separate steps the police must complete correctly, and a failure on some of them ends the prosecution. We'll go through your disclosure and the EBA procedure sheet and tell you straight whether there's anything in it.
$230 for the first appointment.
I'm disqualified and I need to drive for work.
A limited licence is a court order letting you drive under strict conditions — usually so you can keep your job. You can't apply during the first 28 days if you've been given an immediate suspension.
$920 fixed, payable as 2 × $460.
This is my third drink drive and I'm frightened of prison.
A third or subsequent charge carries a real risk of a custodial sentence. It is also the situation where good sentencing submissions make the most difference. This is work Melanie does regularly, and the fee is designed to be paid off over time.
$2,875, payable as 5 × $575.
From your call to your court date
The whole thing in order, with who does what. The steps marked YOU are the only ones that need anything from you.
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Nothing is decided on that call. Tell us the charge, the reading and your court date, and you'll be told whether you need an appointment.
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Phone, Zoom or in person, usually the same day. What you're facing, the realistic sentencing range, and which applications are open to you.
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The notebook, the machine's certificate, the EBA procedure sheet — all of it, before any plea is entered, with a straight answer on whether there's anything in it.
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Plead, defend, or apply — limited licence, section 94, section 106. The fixed price comes in writing before the work starts.
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Auckland District Court in person, or by Zoom from wherever you are. On a straightforward guilty plea, usually one appearance. Christopher is on the phone throughout.
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If you're disqualified, the limited licence application goes in as soon as the law allows — after the 28-day suspension, if you had one. $920 fixed.
Don't plead guilty at your first appearance.
Once you've pleaded guilty, most of your options close — including a section 106 discharge, and a section 94 community work order in place of disqualification, which has to be applied for at the same time as the plea.
Before you plead, you're entitled to see the police disclosure: the officer's notebook, the machine's certificate of compliance, the procedure sheet. That's how you find out whether there's anything to argue about. It takes one phone call to start.
Melanie Coxon
Barrister
You've probably already decided you're guilty. Wait.
Most people charged with drink driving assume there's nothing to argue about. The machine gave a number, the number was over, that's that.
Sometimes that's true. Often it isn't, and either way, the number is only half of what happens next. The other half is how the charge is handled: whether the police followed the procedure the law requires, whether you keep your licence, whether a conviction gets recorded at all, and how long the disqualification runs.
Melanie Coxon has practised traffic and criminal law in New Zealand for 30+ years. Her first case was as a junior in a murder trial. She has appeared in her own right in the High Court. And she has spent three decades on the other side of exactly this charge.
You'll deal with Melanie directly. No juniors, no hand-offs, no file passed to someone you've never met.
Whether it's your first time or you're on a first-name basis with the court staff, we're not here to judge. We're here to sort it and keep you moving forward.
What you're facing
The legal limit for a driver aged 20 or over is 250 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath, or 50 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood. Under 20 it's zero.
Between 251 and 400 mcg it's an infringement — a $200 fine and 50 demerit points, no court and no conviction. Over 400 mcg, or 80 mg of blood, it's a criminal charge, and that's the page you're on.
Over 650 mcg, or 130 mg of blood, you'll usually have had an immediate 28-day suspension at the roadside. No limited licence during those 28 days, and driving in them is a separate charge.
You don't have to be in Auckland, and often you don't have to be in court
Melanie appears by Zoom for clients throughout New Zealand — Invercargill to Cape Reinga. For a lot of matters you never attend court at all, which for a shift worker is worth more than a discount.
“Melanie was able to appear at court without me being present.” — LianLi
“Amazing too work with, fast response would recommend to anyone living anywhere in New Zealand” — Nathaniel Marsh
Drink driving FAQs
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If you're convicted of driving over 400 mcg of breath or 80 mg of blood, disqualification is mandatory — the court has no choice about whether to impose it, only about how long. A limited licence can often let you keep driving for work during the disqualification. A section 106 discharge, if granted, means no conviction and no disqualification at all.
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For a first or second charge, prison is very unlikely. For a third or subsequent charge it is a real possibility, and it's the reason sentencing submissions matter so much at that point. Nobody can promise you an outcome. What we can tell you, after we've seen your file, is what the realistic range is.
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Usually not, and never before you've seen your full disclosure. Pleading guilty closes off a section 106 discharge and a section 94 order, and you can't take it back easily. Get the disclosure, get advice, then decide. If you've read it all and you still want to plead guilty on the first appearance, that's your call and we'll do it — you'll just be asked to confirm the advice in writing.
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No. Phone or Zoom appointments, and Zoom court appearances, anywhere in New Zealand. If you'd rather come in, the office is Cathedral House, Level 5, 48–52 Wyndham Street, Auckland CBD.
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Not necessarily, but be realistic — arguing that the machine was wrong is almost never a defence. It's no defence to say there may have been a mistake in the screening or evidential test. What does sometimes work is the procedure around the test: your right to a lawyer, the ten-minute period, the timing, the certificates. That's what the disclosure review is for.
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It's not an offence to refuse a passive test or a breath screening test. It is an offence to refuse to accompany an officer for an evidential test, or to leave before the test is done, or to leave before the officer has the result. Refusing a blood specimen is an offence, though it's a defence if the court is satisfied that taking blood would have harmed your health.
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For a straightforward guilty plea, $460 to $690. For a defended hearing at the Auckland District Court, $2,415 including preparation. For a section 106 application, $2,875 plus $1,150 if it's granted. You'll be given the number for your situation before any work starts, and you can pay in instalments.
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Yes. Everything here can be paid in instalments — the section 106 and third-charge fees are quoted as five payments of $575 for exactly that reason. Debit card, credit card or online transfer.
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Understood, and it's a common reason people put off ringing. You'll deal with Melanie herself, you'll get a fixed price in writing, and if we don't think we're the right people for your matter we'll say so on the phone and point you somewhere better.
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Then say so on the phone. If you're on a low income you may qualify for legal aid, and there's a duty lawyer available free at the District Court on the day. We'll tell you if that's your better option — see the Fees page for the full list of free help available.
Find out where you actually stand.
One appointment, $230, phone or Zoom, usually the same day. You'll come off the call knowing what you're facing, what your options are, and what it will cost.