Can I fire my personal injury attorney and hire a new one?
If you are considering switching to a new LA personal injury attorney, contact us. At Los Angeles personal injury lawyers, we have a network of established and successful attorneys. We have helped many thousands of personal injury victims get the justice they deserve.
If you already have a personal injury attorney in LA but for any reason would like to switch to a different attorney, here are several things to consider.
California Law
It’s legal to first hire one LA personal injury attorney, and then switch to a different attorney. However, if you hired the first attorney under a contingency fee agreement, you may be liable for certain costs if you fire them. Check your contract with him or her to see if you are responsible for:
- Postage and other mailing costs.
- Long distance phone charges.
- Court costs.
- Other fees already paid for by the attorney.
The Status of Your Case
If your personal injury case is halfway finished or in the advanced stages, you may have trouble finding a new lawyer to take it over. This is because:
- The new lawyer may not want to share a substantial amount of their fee with the prior lawyer.
- The new lawyer will inherit the legal decisions, strategy, and witness depositions from the previous lawyer and may feel that “too much damage has been done” to make it worthwhile for them.
Reasons to Switch Lawyers
There are several excellent reasons why you may want to switch from your current LA personal injury attorney to a new one. They may include:
- Extremely difficult to communicate with him or her because they do not return your calls or emails and do not update you about your case.
- He or she is putting no effort into your case and cannot provide proof to the contrary.
- Inappropriate or unprofessional behavior from him or her.
- Your current lawyer lost their attorney’s license after you hired them.
- The case has presented challenges that your current LA personal injury attorney is equipped to handle.
Before You Fire Your Lawyer
It may be in the best interest of your case and for you that you resolve the issues with your current lawyer if possible rather than switch lawyers. A disruption of your case from a change of legal representation can hurt your case so much that the new lawyer will never be able to recover. The best approach to working out your differences with your lawyer will depend on the situation. However, here are some suggestions on what you may wish to discuss with your lawyer:
- Request to see your case file and to receive an explanation of their progress on your case.
- Request updates and come to an agreement about how often it is practical to get one and by which method works best for both of you whether it’s by email, text, phone call, etc.
- Request a time to discuss the above and/or any other issues you may be having with your lawyer
If you’re considering hiring a new LA personal injury attorney, contact us to speak with a lawyer about your case.