Don't forget about a Legal Defense fund
With a fresh group of posts on the main forum regarding potential club busts, this might be a good time to discuss another financial item dancers should consider - establishing a legal defense fund. It's unfortunate but true that the difference between doing this vs. not doing this can mean spending the night in jail or not, having a misdemeanor charge on your permanent record or not, and being able to obtain/renew your dancer's license or not.
The three most common charges against dancers resulting from a club bust are violation of a local dance club ordinance, lewd conduct, and prostitution. In the majority of cases, violating the ordinance will be a misdemeanor charge (although in a few lucky cities it's only a violation - like a speeding ticket). Lewd conduct and prostitution are always misdemeanor charges. As such, if you are busted you'll be held on a misdemeanor charge pending the payment of probably $500 bail. Since most police will only accept cash payments for bail, this can be really inconvenient if you haven't planned ahead - especially if you happen to be busted on a Saturday night and/or if the cops have confiscated the money you had in your purse as ill gotten gains/evidence. This leads to Legal Defense fund basic #1 - leave $ 500 in cash with someone that you completely trust who is NOT affiliated with your club in any way (so there's no risk they'll be busted also) and who WILL show up at the police station at any time of the day or night to pay your bail. If you don't have anyone that you trust to this degree, there are other options, which leads us to ...
Legal Defense fund basic #2 - it's a really smart move to have already had a consulation with a local criminal lawyer BEFORE you're charged. After all you may only be given one phone call when you're busted. Unless you have someone who you completely trust with your $500 bail fund to call, or unless you already have your lawyer's phone number in your purse, it's pretty tough to contact a bail bondsman or an attorney out of the blue with only one phone call! Also, virtually all 'corporate' bail bond outfits will NOT write a bond on a sexually related misdemeanor (since pimps and hookers have burned them 1000 times).
Having an advance consult with an attorney and making bail arrangements in advance is definitely a worthwhile expense. But make sure that the attorney you choose is NOT affiliated with the club you work at, as this can lead to a conflict of interest which can be dangerous to your legal health. You want your attorney to have ONE thing on his mind, doing what's best for YOU regardless of the consequences to anyone else.
Besides the issue of calling your attorney to get you released on bail when you are busted, an advance consultation with an attorney will accurately inform you of exactly what is and is not legal in your area, therefore what you should and should NOT say to police officers if and when you are busted so as to avoid incriminating yourself. A dancer saying to a cop "honest officer I was only giving the customer a lap dance" is NOT helpful to your case if lap dances happen to be technically illegal in your area but the law has never been previously enforced and dancers have been performing lap dances on a nightly basis for years !
Also, law enforcement is a 'good ol boys' club, so dropping the name of the prominent local attorney you have previously consulted within earshot of the cops during the first second of a club bust may in fact result in the cops not actually charging you (or charging you with something less serious, or at the very least affording you a little better treatment at the hands of the cops). The usual consultation fee for an attorney will be in the $100 to $250 ballpark, and is money well spent if and when you are busted.
Legal defense fund basic #3 is being prepared to pay your attorney to work on your behalf, as well as being prepared to pay a substantial fine and court costs. Here we're probably talking about $750-$1500 in attorney's fees for a sexually related misdemeanor charge, plus another $500-$1000 in fines and court costs. Remember that in cities that require a dancer's license, it's possible that your license will be suspended until the charges against you are dropped meaning that you may not be able to dance between the time you are charged and the time that your case actually gets settled in court - which can take several weeks or even months if you have to appeal the first judge's verdict. If you haven't set aside money to cover your attorney's fees, your fine and court costs, another option is an all expenses paid guided tour of the county lockup until your case comes before a judge, or putting yourself at the 'mercy' of your clubowner and the club's attorney who will definitely put their own interests ahead of yours.
If you're stuck depending on your clubowner to pay your bail and provide your legal defense, you may find yourself used as a pawn to minimize charges/consequences to the club. This is the 'conflict of interest' situation I spoke of earlier. This may get you released and it may mean you don't have to pay for your own defense or pay for your own fine, but it also means that you may very probably be used as an ingredient in a plea bargain deal to minimize or drop charges against the clubowner in exchange for some dancers agreeing to plead guilty (with a resulting black mark on your permanent record and perhaps costing you your dancer's license eventually or preventing you from getting one in cities that require them). The club's attorney may propose exactly such a deal to the DA without your knowledge! There's no such thing as a free lunch, especially where attorneys are concerned. If your clubowner is paying the attorney things are going to go in a direction that benefits the clubowner, and very probably with YOU getting the short end of the stick. The clubowner's concern is basically limited to having enough dancers to reopen the club tomorrow night, with little thought to dancers having criminal charges on their permanent record or losing their dancer's licenses when the case comes before a judge (he can hire new dancers by then).
If you're forced to rely on a Public Defender to arrange your release and represent you in court, fuggedaboudit - he's not going to believe that you're actually innocent and is certainly not going to work hard to have you acquitted or to have your records sealed/expunged. Where legal representation is concerned, you get what you pay for - just ask O.J. ! Public Defenders are worth exactly what they charge - NOTHING!
All in all, you're looking at about $2000 extra on top of the $500 bail fund. This is a small price to pay in advance versus the potential negative effects of having a misdemeanor charge stick (and still having to pay the fine and court costs). If you're never busted this money simply becomes your retirement fund when you quit dancing. But if you ARE busted, you'll be SO glad you were properly prepared in advance.