If you can walk from the hotel to the courthouse, skip this page. David Oscar Markus's advice in the ABA Litigation Journal is to pick a hotel you can walk from, and that one choice removes the rental, the parking and the rideshare. If you cannot, here is how to decide.
Price the three options the same way
No single published number settles it, so use a method and date your math.
- Rental. Get the weekly or monthly rate plus taxes, fees, fuel and parking.
- Rideshare or taxi. Put your real hotel, courthouse and airport addresses into the Uber or Lyft app, or read the city's taxi tariff. Screenshot the estimate with the date. Count two legs a day.
- Multiply by trial days. Compare.
I could not get official Uber or Lyft fares for any named route, and I could not read Hertz, Avis, Enterprise or National's own pages. The only published weekly and monthly rates I found are negotiated contract rates for state universities, so they are not what you will pay. They are useful for one thing: they show how the math works for a long rental. Louisiana State University's FY27 contract, effective July 1, 2026, prices Hertz Economy at $35.75 a day or $196.62 a week. Enterprise and National Economy are $40 a day, with the week at six times the daily rate and the month at 24 times. A SUNY New Paltz Hertz sheet uses 5.5 times for a week and 22 times for a month. Over a multi-week trial, the weekly and monthly multipliers pull the daily cost well below daily rate times days. Ask your firm for its corporate discount code, because retail may differ.
Parking near eight courthouses
Parking runs from about $6 to $28 a day in the examples I could read. Most of the courts' pages carry no date, so confirm for your trial dates. None of the pages listed an attorney-specific permit. Ask the clerk or the judge's chambers.
- Boston, Moakley Courthouse. Garages from $18 to $28 a day. The U.S. Attorney's document is undated, and its file path suggests 2014. Treat the rates as outdated.
- Omaha, Hruska Courthouse. $12 daily maximum at Tower Parking and $10 at two nearby lots. Parking fines are not reimbursed.
- Memphis, Shelby County. The Justice Center Garage is $1 per half hour with a $6 daily maximum.
- Cincinnati, Hamilton County. $6 to $7.35 a day in two garages. Everyone passes a Sheriff's checkpoint, and lines run longest from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. The courthouse opens at 8 a.m.
- Raleigh, Wake County. Street meters at $1.50 an hour. Garages $12 to $24 a day. This comes from a law firm's blog, updated June 19, 2026.
- Greensburg, Pa., Westmoreland County. The Robert Bell garage is $1 an hour. Levels 1 and 2 are for leaseholders.
- Johnstown, Pa., federal courthouse. An open lot at $3.50 a day. Numbered spaces are ticketed at $25, and the court cannot reimburse tickets.
- Salt Lake City, Matheson Courthouse. Public garage parking ended Jan. 1, 2026 for general visitors. Jurors, other court users and staff are not affected. I could not confirm where that leaves attorneys. The courthouse sits in a free-fare transit zone.
I found no West Coast or Texas courthouse I could verify.
Security lines come before parking
The Southern District of Illinois lets attorneys bring laptops if they show a bar card. The Eastern District of Virginia has no attorney fast lane, puts phones in locked pouches and requires a judge's prior authorization for tablets and laptops. Plan to arrive early, and read the court's own entry rules before you pack.
Insurance
GEICO says your own auto policy's coverage "typically" extends to a rental car in the U.S., with exceptions for business use and loss-of-use fees. A rental company's damage waiver is "not an insurance product." Your card may cover damage. One Visa guide to benefits, a 2026 copy, covers rentals of up to 15 consecutive days, requires you to decline the rental company's waiver, and says rentals that exceed or are meant to exceed 15 days are not covered. A multi-week trial can be longer than that. Read your own card's guide and call your insurer about business use. This page reports what they publish and is not advice.
Billing the client
Uber and Lyft both have business profiles that keep work rides separate and send receipts to expense systems. Keep the rental agreement, the final receipt, every parking stub and every ride receipt, tagged to the matter. I could not find an ABA or state bar rule on billing rental costs to a client. Check your engagement letter.
For early flights, Uber Reserve lets you book up to 90 days ahead at more than 50 U.S. airports, according to The Points Guy in March 2024. That article is old, so confirm the feature in the app.
What not to say in the car
Dentons told lawyers in 2020 not to discuss work in a rideshare, a cab or a car service, because some rideshare technology may record audio or video. The Florida Bar News said on June 24, 2026 that lawyers "should avoid discussing client matters in public." ABA Model Rule 1.6(c) requires reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorized disclosure. Take the call in the hotel room.
Rates, court pages and articles read Nov. 5, 2026. Nothing on this page is sponsored. [Confirm retail rental rates, rental loyalty perks, and the current Uber and Lyft scheduling features before publication.]
Sources
David Oscar Markus, ABA Litigation Journal, fall 2023 · LSU FY27 vehicle rental rates · SUNY New Paltz Hertz price sheet · USAO-MA, parking at the Moakley · D. Neb., Omaha parking · Shelby County FAQ · Hamilton County Courts, parking · Rosen Law Firm, Wake County parking · Westmoreland County parking · W.D. Pa., Johnstown · KSL, Salt Lake courthouse parking · S.D. Ill. safety and security · E.D. Va. entrance policy, May 23, 2025 · GEICO, rental car coverage · Visa Guide to Benefits, 2026 copy · Uber business profiles · Lyft business · The Points Guy, airport ride-hailing, Mar. 2024 · Law Times on Dentons, Feb. 25, 2020 · Florida Bar News, June 24, 2026 · ABA Model Rule 1.6