I'm actually a literal lawyer. For real.

Lawyers can't erase bad facts. They can try to limit the exposure, but no amount of money will get you out of a bad case. Money will pretty much never buy you a sure thing.

The cost of doing business is unfortunate. Lawyers these days are built for high dollar problems. Unless you've got $5000 to $10,000 minimum in controversy it's usually not worth the expense (unless you've got an attorney's fee provision in your contract, other argument for fees, and a defendant with deep pockets). A lawyer can't even really afford to put maximum effort into a case unless 10s or 100s of thousands of dollars are at stake, or serious crimial reprocussions.

For something like a speeding ticket, it's insane to hire a lawyer. If you want to try to get out of something like that, show up in court and ask about taking a defensive driving course in instead of the conviction. Community service can sometimes work too. The worst case scenario is that you pay a fine, which is less than the cost of a lawyer. If its going to make your insurance go banannas or something, then it could be worth the expense, but that can be a close call as well.