Obviously it\’s important to hire the best possible lawyer from the very outset but the vast majority of people tend to rush into the hiring process, especially in personal injury cases. What they find then is that they\’re not happy with their current lawyer and want to change them but are unsure what steps need to be taken to make that happen.
There can be a lot of reasons for you wanting to change lawyers including any potential conflict of interest, personality conflict or you simply feel that the case is not being handled to your satisfaction but the fact remains that, under law, you are fully entitled to change your legal representative whenever you see fit. This isn\’t a decision which you\’ll want to take lightly but if you\’re finding that your lawyer isn\’t returning your calls, has missed a court deadline and never informed you or (most commonly) has to keep asking you for documents you\’ve already sent them then you\’ve probably reached the point where it\’s time to hire somebody new to replace them.
An important note here is that you should always have a new lawyer hired before you fire your existing one and when it comes to the actual firing process then you need to do so in writing and sign the same document. An email, phone call or text message isn\’t going to pass muster here so make absolutely sure you release your lawyer from his contract with you in writing only.
Another important point is that your previous lawyer is only legally obliged to transfer your existing legal documents to your new lawyer, whereas anything your lawyer has created themselves is known as \”work product\” and can be retained by them permanently. Very few attorneys will actually keep that kind of documentation because it can create unnecessary tension between everyone involved but it is something you need to be aware of.
One of the key reasons people avoid firing an existing lawyer, even though they\’re unhappy with the service they\’re receiving, is because they\’re worried that they\’re going to wind up paying two sets of legal fees as a result. The reality is that you won\’t need to pay twice and in most cases your lawyers will be quite happy to work out the fee split between themselves because people changing attorneys is a fairly common occurrence.
One final point on changing your lawyer is that it\’s perfectly acceptable to hire another lawyer mid-case from most people\’s point of view and you\’ll find that a new lawyer is pretty easy to find and hire. If, however, you develop a \”reputation\” for changing lawyers as often as you change your socks then you might find that most attorneys will refuse to take on your case because they know they stand a very good chance of being fired by you in the middle of a case.