After three months of being in a car accident, my lawyer just call me 2 days ago saying they were resigning to my case, didn'y give me no explaintion , only thing they told me was you will be recieving a letter in the mail. What can I do now?
2007-11-10 04:22:41 · 7 answers · asked by Brandy L 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Careers & Employment ➔ Law & Legal
The attorney isn't required to provide you an explanation, but usually one is provided.
If it's only been 3 months since the accident, has a lawsuit been filed? It's not customary to file the lawsuit immediately after the accident, especially if you're still getting treatment.
The letter will probably tell you why they want to quit as your attorneys and request you sign a form called a "substitution of attorney." This form is only required to be signed if a lawsuit has already been filed, a case number and judge assigned to the case. Otherwise, the letter is sufficient.
They do not have to provide you with a replacement attorney either, but they should provide you with a copy of their file (although, after 3 months, there shouldn't be too much in the file). You will have to pay normal copying costs (10-cents per page is customary). This way, you will have the file to provide to another attorney you may choose to hire.
Since we don't know why your attorney is dropping you as a client, we cannot guess as to his motivation. Perhaps this case is not worth his time (little settlement value)? Perhaps he was unable to contact you for a certain period of time? Perhaps you had pre-existing injuries which were not previously disclosed (and he found out because he got the medical records)?
After you get a copy of the file from your attorney, contact the local bar association (county in which you live in/work in) and see if you can get a referral to a personal injury attorney.
You cannot make this attorney keep you as a client.
If a lawsuit has already been filed and you don't sign the substitution of attorney form, then the attorney can file a motion to be relieved as counsel of record, which is almost always granted (unless you're a month from trial).
2007-11-13 06:20:03 · answer #1 · answered by Princess Leia 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
PI (Personal Injury) lawyers have a high rate of turn over in the law firms. PI law firms also tend to merge with each other more than the rest of the industry. What has probably happened is that the attorney who was assigned by the law firm to your case has left the firm. Your attorney probably had a supervising attorney who will just assign your case to another attorney.
In cases where law firms merge, your case again gets assigned to another attorney. When reassigning cases, the goal is to give the case to another attorney who as the same of close to the same experience with these types of cases, so that the quality of work does not slip.
Because you were notified that the current attorney is no longer working on your case, that attorney probably had the time to sit with his/her replacement to go over the case before he/she left the firm.
All you can do is wait until you get the letter. If the letter does not provide you with a replacement attorney, you can report the law firm/attorney to the the local gov department who issues attorney licenses. Had your case gotten to the part where a judge was assigned to the case, the judge/court would have needed to approve this.
Since you are very early in your case (3 months is very, very early in dealing with the legalities of a PI case, they can take years) what has probably happened is just that your attorney left the firm and will be replaced. This is very common in the legal industry.
2007-11-10 08:57:56 · answer #2 · answered by CatLaw 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It doesn't sound to me that this is merely a situation where your attorney left the firm. And, yes they can "fire" the client for a variety of reasons. Since your case was concerning an auto accident I'm assuming they took the case on contingency...in which case your retainer agreement, or contingency agreement will also spell out the terms of termination of the relationship.
If they did much work on your case they could have a "lien" on any possible settlement you may receive in the future on this case. If not, and it is a good case, then you can easily shop your case around to another PI attorney.
2007-11-10 13:46:47 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
confident, the legal professional can renounce. Its referred to as a "action to Withdraw". The legal professional has to grant the courtroom a stable reason he's quitting your case, and ascertain that his departure won't unduly postpone the courtroom situations. you've a gamble to respond to the action. you nonetheless could pay any expenditures that have been incurred as much as that element however. in case you do not, he can sue you.
2016-10-02 00:17:33 · answer #4 · answered by ullrich 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If they have a good reason - sometimes they need permission from the court to resign your case.
2007-11-10 04:26:26 · answer #5 · answered by Judy 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Read the letter. It should tell you what is your next move.
2007-11-10 04:26:17 · answer #6 · answered by Star T 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
You can sue them of breach of trust and betrayal. You can also charge them with liasoning with the accused to serve their interests. Tough, but you should do it.
2007-11-10 05:06:28 · answer #7 · answered by jitendra delhi 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋