You have been injured in an accident and want a personal injury lawyer. A friend or doctor may have given you a recommendation of a personal injury firm, or you may have discovered a local lawyer on the net. However, when you have met your lawyer, you found that the relationship is not the most suitable.
There may be several explanations for why you are unhappy with your lawyer. Your lawyer may not be returning your phone calls. When you call the attorney’s office, you only communicate to the secretary or get voicemail. Thus, you have never talked to the same person twice. When you finally reach the lawyer, the lawyer is not familiar with your facts. They have no idea what is going on in your situation. Does any of this sound familiar? If yes, then it is time that you have to consider changing your personal injury.
The Right to Change Attorney Anytime
If you wonder a lot and hesitate what to do with your current personal injury attorney that you are not unhappy with, you have the absolute right to fire your lawyer at any time. Either it is the first day you have hired them, after months, years, or even right before your trial, you can fire and hire another attorney. You and your attorney are comrades concerning your circumstance case. Thus, you need to have a friendly relationship and respect each other. In this case, you, as the client, have to talk openly and be confident in your attorney. If these things are not there, then you want to find another personal injury lawyer.
The Cost to Fire and Hire Another Attorney
Please do not worry much about the cost, because firing one and hiring another will not cost you more. In this case, you will only pay one attorney’s fee. When your injury case ends, you have to pay one attorney’s fee. However, this fee needs further division among the firms representing you based on “quantum meruit,” that is, the reasonable value of those services, or in other words, exactly how much work each firm did. If the next attorney did the work, she or he receives the majority of the attorney’s fee. If both firms did more or less the same jobs, then both will divide the pay equally. The method of dividing the payment should not be the problem. The law firms will work it out once you have resolved your injury case.
The Difficulty to Find a New Attorney
When changing your attorney, you may have a question popping up in your head. Could I have difficulty finding a lawyer to handle my case since they have to split the fee with my first lawyer? Well, the answers may vary. Suppose your first lawyer has been handling your case for quite some time and has done a considerable amount of work on the situation. The new lawyer might be hesitant to take over your case since he or she might need to waive a massive portion of the legal fees to the first lawyer. However, the new lawyer will assess the value of your case, including the amount of work by the first lawyer, and then decide if it makes sense to quantify the case. If your case has a significant advantage and value, then even though the first lawyer did a lot of work on the record, another lawyer will not be frustrated to take over.
Please remember to get a legal opinion when you have lost confidence and seriously wanted to change your attorney. When it comes to a personal injury case, you also need to remember that it is your only shot to receive compensation for your injury. Thus, the moment your case is closed, you will never have the ability to go back and get more money. Therefore, your lawyer must be confident in your case and more willing to go to war to get the compensation you deserve.
