No! If you fire your lawyer, you have the right to insist that the lawyer provide you with an itemized list showing the legal services performed by the lawyer on your case.
Full Answer
“Lawyer shopping” can sometimes be viewed as a way that clients game the system. Having said all of this, there are many legitimate reasons that you may want to fire your attorney. These reasons include: The attorney is unprofessional.
If you owe money to the previous lawyer for expenses, they have the right to claim payment for those funds if they’re not being disputed. Pay off your balance immediately because the lawyer could hold your case files until they receive payment.
If you don’t have a plan to pay the bill a vague or distant “promise” to pay will not go very far with any good lawyer.
If your lawyer tells you that you will not have to pay the case expenses whether you win or lose your case, make sure that promise is in writing and preferably on the retainer agreement. You cannot afford to get stuck with a $50,000 bill at the end of your case.
If you believe that your attorney acted unethically, you should consider filing a complaint with the State Bar. You can complete a complaint form online or download a PDF complaint form from the State Bar's website.
Legal malpractice is a type of negligence in which a lawyer does harm to his or her client. Typically, this concerns lawyers acting in their own interests, lawyers breaching their contract with the client, and, one of the most common cases of legal malpractice, is when lawyers fail to act on time for clients.
If you decide to fire your lawyer, the best way to do it is in writing either via email, mail, or text. Your termination notice should let the lawyer know the reason for the decision and should also give instruction as to where to send a copy of your file.
Perhaps the most common kinds of complaints against lawyers involve delay or neglect. This doesn't mean that occasionally you've had to wait for a phone call to be returned. It means there has been a pattern of the lawyer's failing to respond or to take action over a period of months.
No matter what name the agency in your state goes by, they will have a process you can use to file a complaint against your attorney for lying or being incompetent. Examples of these types of behavior include: Misusing your money. Failing to show up at a court hearing.
Dennis BeaverThe attorney does not return phone calls in a reasonable amount of time, and;In a meeting with the client, if the lawyer is being very short, taking phone calls, trying to re-schedule, not giving enough time to the client, does not listen, ignores what is asked or is not answering questions.
If you are a perpetrator of a misdemeanor, your attorney is allowed to appear in court for you. He/she may defend your rights without your presence on your behalf at all stages of your case.
Throughout the process of getting your financial settlement after becoming injured, there may be periods of time that you do not hear from your attorney. Although this can be unnerving, it is a normal part of the legal process.
A: The lawyer should be responsive to your questions within 24-48 hours after you left a message. If the lawyer is not responsive, perhaps he or she is on vacation and unable to return.
If a lawyer lies to the Judge about something that is within his own knowledge -- such as something the lawyer did or didn't do during the lawsuit, then he can be suspended or disbarred. However, it's important to distinguish what you mean by a "lawyer lying" from examples when a lawyer is not really lying.
Signs of a Bad LawyerBad Communicators. Communication is normal to have questions about your case. ... Not Upfront and Honest About Billing. Your attorney needs to make money, and billing for their services is how they earn a living. ... Not Confident. ... Unprofessional. ... Not Empathetic or Compassionate to Your Needs. ... Disrespectful.
Formal complaint against [name of lawyer or law firm] describe what the lawyer had been hired to do for you [for example dealing with the sale or purchase of a house] • say when this was [give the date or dates when the problem occurred]. My complaint is that [list what you think went wrong or wasn't done properly.
Connecticut law clearly provides an attorney with a retaining lien on the client's papers and files. There is an exception that you should think about.
If any of the documents in the file were generated by you, and he had possession of them, you have an absolute right to get them back. If they were created by him as work product (i.e., research memoranda, notes on how to handle the case, witness interviews, deposition transcripts, etc.) he has a common-law lien against the file until you pay.
Mr. Erickson has a lot of useful suggestions and is closer to the ground in TX with the state and local Bar disciplinary authorities. Paraphrasing the Paul Simon song, there must be 50 ways to fire your lawyer, here are a couple of more suggestions:
I agree with Mr. Erikson's excellent response. Firing your lawyer is easy. You can do so by phone, email, letter, or any other form of communication that is reasonably calculated to reach the lawyer. All you have to say is something like "I am hereby terminating our lawyer-client relationship, effective...
Not answering client inquiries gets a lot of attorneys in a lot of trouble. You can review an attorney's ethical obligations to his clients at the following web address: Texas Ethics Rules http://www.law.cornell.edu/ethics/tx/code/TX_CODE.HTM