Theft Lawyer Fees

How theft lawyers charge: flat fees by offense level

Theft defense is priced by the offense level, and almost always as a flat fee. A misdemeanor petty theft or shoplifting charge resolved by plea or diversion commonly runs $1,000–$3,500. A felony grand theft — the same conduct above your state's dollar threshold — commonly runs $3,500–$12,000 through the pre-trial stage, and embezzlement, organized retail theft, and multi-count schemes run $10,000–$25,000 or more, often billed hourly at $200–$500 against a retainer.

The flat fee nearly always stops at the courthouse door. Most agreements cover arraignment, discovery, motions, and negotiation, with a separate trial fee — commonly $5,000–$15,000 or more for a felony jury trial and less for a misdemeanor — that triggers when a trial date is set or a jury is sworn. Which of those two triggers applies is worth asking, because they can be weeks and thousands of dollars apart.

As in all criminal defense, contingency fees are prohibited and the fee is paid up front, though payment plans are routine at the misdemeanor level and some firms tier the engagement: arraignment only, through the preliminary hearing, or through trial.

Have the fee agreement say whether a restitution hearing, advice on the retailer's civil demand letter, a later probation matter, and record sealing are included. Each is cheap to add up front and expensive to buy later.

Attorney fees vs. the other costs of a theft case

The attorney fee is one line in a longer bill, and the distinction between fees and case costs matters more in theft cases than most because so much of the money goes to people other than your lawyer.

Court-imposed costs come first: fines that commonly reach $1,000 for a misdemeanor and far more for a felony, court assessments, and probation supervision fees. Restitution is separate again — the value of property not recovered, plus any damage — and it is paid to the victim as a condition of probation or diversion, cannot be discharged in bankruptcy, and is not reduced by anything the lawyer does except disputing the amount.

Retailers add a third layer. Every state has a civil recovery statute that lets a store demand a civil penalty — commonly in the low hundreds of dollars, plus the value of any unrecovered merchandise — by letter, regardless of what happens in the criminal case. Paying it does not resolve the charge, and ignoring it very rarely produces a lawsuit, but the letter arrives before the first court date and is designed to be paid in a panic.

Contested cases generate true case costs: a private investigator to locate witnesses, subpoenas for surveillance footage, transcripts, and in an embezzlement case a forensic accountant at roughly $200–$500 an hour, which can add $5,000–$25,000 to a substantial case. Diversion program fees and a theft-awareness class typically add a further $100–$500.

Petty theft or grand theft: why the dollar value decides everything

Every state grades theft by the value of the property, and the grade decides almost everything about the case. Below the threshold it is petty theft or petit larceny, a misdemeanor carrying up to a year in jail and, in practice, usually a fine, probation, or diversion. At or above it the charge is grand theft or grand larceny, a felony with state prison exposure, and most states add higher felony tiers at $10,000, $100,000, and beyond.

The threshold is set by each legislature and ranges from a few hundred dollars to $2,500, with most states clustered around $1,000 — so the fee for identical conduct can differ several-fold across a state line.

Because the value is an element the prosecution must prove, it is also a defense. Most states measure fair market value at the time and place of the theft, not the retail sticker, and a used, damaged, or discounted item can fall below the line. On a borderline case the valuation dispute is the whole case, and getting the charge reclassified as a misdemeanor is usually worth more than any other single outcome.

Two mechanisms push cases upward. Aggregation lets prosecutors add up a series of takings from one victim or one scheme — and organized retail theft statutes now aggregate across stores — and value-independent rules make theft of a firearm, a vehicle, property taken from a person, or a petty theft by someone with prior theft convictions a felony at any amount.

Shoplifting, embezzlement, and receiving stolen property

Shoplifting is the most common theft charge in the country, and it is more technical than its reputation. Many states make the offense complete on concealment or on passing the last point of sale, loss-prevention staff detain suspects under a shopkeeper's privilege that has its own limits, and self-checkout errors have become a distinct category of case with a genuine intent defense. A juvenile shoplifting charge runs through a separate court with its own fee structure.

Embezzlement is theft by someone entrusted with the property — an employee, bookkeeper, treasurer, agent, or fiduciary. The cases are built from records rather than video, they often reach federal court when a bank or interstate commerce is involved, and the amount drives both the felony class and a restitution figure that can exceed the fee many times over. This is the corner of theft defense that looks like white-collar work and is priced like it.

Receiving stolen property requires proof that you knew or had reason to know the goods were stolen, which is why these cases turn on inference — a price too good to be true, an altered serial number, an unexplained volume of recently stolen items — and why pawnshop and online-marketplace records are the prosecution's usual evidence.

Related charges belong to different pages and price points: burglary is entry with intent to steal, robbery is theft by force or fear, and identity theft has its own statute. Each is a felony in nearly every state, and the fee follows the class, not the label.

Where theft cases are won: intent, value, and the store’s own evidence

Theft requires an intent to permanently deprive the owner of the property, and intent is where most winnable cases are won. Forgetting an item in a cart or under a bag, a mis-scan at self-checkout, a genuine belief that you owned or were owed the item, or a dispute between roommates, ex-partners, or business partners over who owned what are defenses to the crime even where the taking is undisputed — and the last of those is often a civil matter that should never have been charged.

The evidence is usually the store's, and it decays fast. Surveillance systems typically overwrite in 30–90 days, so a preservation letter in the first week can secure footage that would otherwise exist only as a loss-prevention officer's summary. Retail loss-prevention policies require continuous observation from selection to exit, and a break in that chain — a lost sightline, an aisle turned away from — is reasonable doubt.

Value is proved, not assumed. A receipt establishes retail price, not necessarily fair market value; an owner's estimate can be tested; and in an embezzlement case the accounting often has an innocent explanation — authorized advances, sloppy records, a shared account — that a defense-side review can document.

Statements do the most damage. A signed admission form or an apology given to a loss-prevention officer is usually admissible because the store is a private actor, while statements to police may be suppressible. What you said in the back room, and to whom, is the first thing a good theft lawyer wants to know.

Diversion, restitution, and the consequences that outlast the sentence

For a first low-value theft, the realistic goal is a dismissal through diversion. Pretrial diversion, deferred adjudication, and first-offender programs trade a theft-awareness class, community service, restitution, and a period without new arrests for a dismissal and, in many states, eligibility to seal the arrest. Eligibility is often decided in the first weeks, which is why hiring counsel before the first appearance matters more than hiring the most expensive counsel later.

Restitution is both an obligation and the best mitigation available. Prosecutors and judges treat a defendant who has already made the victim whole very differently from one who promises to, so paying documented restitution early — while contesting an inflated figure — is a routine part of a competent defense.

The record outlasts the sentence. Theft is a crime of dishonesty: it appears in employment, housing, and licensing checks, disqualifies applicants from retail, banking, healthcare, and childcare roles, triggers reporting for licensed professionals, and can be used to impeach you as a witness in any later case. Whether and when it can be expunged or sealed depends on how it was resolved, which is a reason to shape the resolution with that in mind.

For non-citizens the stakes are federal. Theft with intent to permanently deprive is a crime involving moral turpitude; a single one may fall within the petty offense exception, but a theft offense with a sentence of one year or more — even fully suspended — is an aggravated felony that makes deportation nearly certain. Any plea should be reviewed by immigration counsel first.

Why your state matters: the felony threshold

The most consequential number in a theft case is set by your legislature. California draws the felony line at $950 (Proposition 47), Texas at $2,500, Florida at $750 since 2019, New York at $1,000, and New Jersey treats theft above just $200 as an indictable fourth-degree crime. A $1,200 shoplifting is a misdemeanor in Texas and a felony in California, Florida, and New Jersey, and the defense fee follows the charge.

States also differ in the rules around the line: separate, often lower thresholds for retail theft; enhancements that make a petty theft a felony after one or more prior theft convictions; organized retail theft statutes that aggregate takings across stores and dates; and how the civil recovery penalty a retailer may demand is calculated.

Diversion and record relief vary just as much. Some states have statutory first-offender diversion for theft, others leave it to each prosecutor's office, and practice varies by county within a single state. Texas offers deferred adjudication that ends without a conviction; several states now seal eligible theft records automatically after a waiting period; others exclude theft from sealing or impose long waits.

Fee ranges track the local market and the local courthouse. A theft attorney who appears weekly before the same prosecutors knows which loss-prevention departments send witnesses to trial, which judges accept a reduction, and what a diversion offer looks like in that county — knowledge that is worth more than a national average, which is why entering your ZIP matters here.

Choosing a theft lawyer and keeping costs down

Firstly, stop talking and stop paying. Do not give a statement, sign an admission form, or pay the retailer's civil demand letter before you have spoken to a lawyer, and do not accept a plea at arraignment — the offer will still be there after someone has reviewed the footage, the value, and your immigration and licensing exposure.

Secondly, hire for the offense level. A first-offense shoplifting charge needs a local defense lawyer who knows the county's diversion practice and can resolve it in a few appearances; an embezzlement or organized-retail-theft case needs someone with white-collar experience and a relationship with a forensic accountant. Paying a felony rate for a misdemeanor, or a misdemeanor rate for a felony, are both expensive mistakes.

Thirdly, compare the whole number: the flat fee, the trial fee and what triggers it, expected investigator or expert costs, and the likely restitution and fine. A low quote that excludes the trial fee is not the cheaper option if the value is genuinely disputed.

Finally, use what is free and do the legwork. Most defense firms offer a free consultation; gather receipts, bank statements, and the names of anyone who was with you before the first meeting; pay documented restitution early where the taking is not in dispute; and if you cannot afford counsel, a public defender or the low-cost options are legitimate routes for a charge whose consequences last far longer than its sentence.