Know when to Fire Your Lawyer

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Sometimes it may be difficult to know whether you should fire your lawyer; and while you have the right to do so, it may not always be in your best interest. Though you should proceed cautiously, some attorney misconduct is so serious that you will have no choice but to proceed with firing your lawyer.

Steps

Uncovering Ethics Violations

  1. Study the attorney rules for professional conduct. If your lawyer acts unethically, you may wish to report him or her to your state’s disciplinary commission. Unethical behavior is also grounds for firing an attorney. One of the most important ethics requirements is to maintain your confidentiality; your attorney may not share your communications with third parties. [1]
  2. Ask if an offer has been made by the other party. A lawyer has an obligation to inform clients of the existence and availability of alternative resolution procedures. These include any and all settlement offers and plea agreements. Turning down an offer, without consulting you to make the final call, is unethical as well.[2]
  3. Research if your attorney has represented the other party. Go online and type in the name of your attorney and the name of the other party. If your attorney has represented the other party before, there may be a conflict of interest.
    • However, if both parties are made aware of the conflict and give written consent, then the attorney may continue to represent both clients.[3]
  4. Avoid forming a personal relationship with your attorney. Romances and sexual relationships are not only extremely inappropriate, it is unethical and against the Rules of Professional Conduct. If your attorney attempts to form a romantic relationship, you should report him to the ethics board. [4]
  5. Request proof that your property has been kept separate from your lawyer’s property. A lawyer must keep your personal property separate from his or her own property and return said personal property anytime you demand it returned. This includes money not yet earned, which must be kept in a trust or escrow account.[5]Your attorney should be willing and able to provide proof that your money is in a trust account.

Checking Your Bill

  1. Look over your bill. The fee a lawyer charges should not be excessive or unreasonable. In determining whether a fee is excessive, you should consider the time and labor involved, as well as the customary fee for similar services in the same area by attorneys with equivalent experience. To determine if you have been overcharged:
  2. Make sure the bill is itemized. All billing statements you receive from your lawyer should include an itemized list of the various tasks performed and the amount of time spent on each task. It should also identify who performed the task and what her billing rate is.
  3. Request a copy of all pleadings, or documents, filed with the Court. You may ask either your attorney or the Court for copies of these documents. No matter whom you ask, there may be copying fees of $.10 to $.20 per page.
  4. Ask your attorney for copies of all correspondence involving your case. Oftentimes, an attorney will carbon copy (“cc”) you on all correspondence and you will already have these copies. If not, feel free to ask for them.
    • Be sure to ask for notes from any phone conversations. Although you can’t get a transcript of the phone conversation, many attorneys will keep handwritten notes summarizing the telephone conversation, including the length of the phone call.
  5. Compare the bill with the filed pleadings and correspondence. Each charge for drafting pleadings or preparing correspondence should match up with the correspondence or pleading prepared.
    • Pay particular attention to dates. If a motion is date-stamped as filed on Monday, but the bill claims it was filed on Wednesday, then your lawyer may not be keeping accurate billing records.
  6. Research customary fees in your area. Finding this information may be difficult, and the information on the web is usually wrong. But you might call around to other attorneys in the area and inquire what their fee would be to handle your case. Consultations are typically free.

Confirming Loyalty

  1. Confirm that your lawyer is still acting in your best interest. A lawyer is required to zealously pursue your wishes, within the boundaries of the law. Sometimes, however, a lawyer may stop acting in a client’s best interest.
  2. Study your pleadings and attorney correspondence. Make sure the relief that your lawyer requests matches what you want. If your lawyer has requested different relief, then he may not be loyal to you.
    • A lawyer does not have to agree with the remedy you are seeking.[6] For example, if you are seeking full custody of your children, and the law allows full custody, then the attorney should zealously seek that result for you whether or not she agrees with it.
    • Nevertheless, your lawyer can only seek remedies that are legally available. If you are seeking full custody but the law requires shared custody, you should not fault your lawyer for not seeking something the law plainly rejects.
    • If you don’t believe the relief you seek is unavailable by law, ask your attorney to show you the statute or court opinion that says that.
  3. Identify important information not communicated to you. If you see in correspondence from the opposing party information you think is important, confirm that your attorney conveyed this information to you. A lawyer has an obligation to share information with you so that you can make an informed choice. [7]
    • In particular, if the other party agreed to settle the case, then your lawyer should convey that information to you even if he thinks the settlement amount is too low. Whether to settle is your choice, not your lawyer’s.
  4. Note how long it takes your lawyer to respond to you. About a week is standard for a very busy office, though a couple of days is preferred. If your attorney never responds to your communications, then he is not acting diligently on your behalf.

Identifying Gaps in Representation

  1. Stay up-to-date on your case. Instead of waiting for your lawyer to inform you of what happened at a court hearing, try to attend the hearing yourself. Take notes and keep dates. Pay attention to the deadlines for filing important documents.
    • If the judge reprimands your lawyer for forgetting to file something or for filing something late, then you know that your lawyer has not been acting diligently on your behalf.
  2. Supply your attorney with any information or documents in a timely manner. Be sure you are doing all that you are supposed to do so that your case isn’t delayed or harmed because you did not provide necessary information.
    • Keep copies of all documents that you supply. If your attorney loses something, you can easily replace it.
    • If you send documents to your attorney, confirm that your attorney received them. You can email your lawyer's secretary or paralegal for confirmation.
  3. Ask your lawyer for a copy of every document he files with the court. Doing so allows you to stay up-to-date and monitor your lawyer’s diligence.

Calculating the Costs of Hiring a New Attorney

  1. Gather fee information. After you fire your attorney, you will need to hire another. Unfortunately, this second lawyer will not work for free. She also may need to bill time getting caught up on your case. Ask for her fee schedule.
  2. Consider how much time is left in the case. The earlier you are, the less money you have spent on your original attorney. Hiring someone new might not be expensive.
    • But if you are nearing trial, then hiring a new attorney not only lengthens the amount of time you have to wait, but increases the costs as well.
  3. Weigh how important the case is to you. If this is a routine piece of litigation for you, then you might decide to keep your attorney. But if the stakes are high, e.g. you are seeking custody of your children, then you may want to seek a new lawyer regardless of how far along you are in the matter.
    • There are few “do-overs” in the law. New trials are almost always granted because the judge made a mistake, not because your lawyer did. If you lose because of an attorney error, you will need to sue for malpractice—which is itself another lawsuit.
  4. Ask yourself how unhappy you are with your lawyer. If you are merely annoyed at slow email responses and bills that seem a little high, you might want to stick it out with your current lawyer. But if you believe your attorney has broken the law or divulged your confidences, then you should fire him.

Firing Your Lawyer

  1. Schedule a meeting with your lawyer. At the meeting, raise any concerns you have over billing, communication, or the representation generally. Sometimes the attorney may have a reasonable explanation.
    • Lawyers are people, too. Sometimes a billing error may be a simple mistake, or a phone call might not get returned because your lawyer has suffered a health problem. However, a pattern of mistakes signals negligence.
    • Send a follow-up email in which you summarize the contents of the meeting. This will provide you with a paper record.
  2. Get a second opinion. Most attorneys will be honest with you about how well, or how poorly, another lawyer is handling your case. Take copies of the pleadings and correspondence to another lawyer for a critique of your current lawyer’s progress.
  3. Write a letter terminating the representation. If after meeting with your lawyer and getting a second opinion you think that your attorney has not represented you adequately, then you should terminate the representation. You should write a letter to this effect.
    • Summarize briefly why you are unhappy with the lawyer. If you have already met with your attorney, he should have a good idea of why you are unhappy with his representation. Then simply write, “As of [today’s date], I no longer want you to be my lawyer.”
    • Send the letter certified mail, with a request for a signed receipt.
    • Request a copy of your file.
  4. Pay your bill. Even if you fire your lawyer, you are responsible for paying any outstanding fees. Your lawyer might sue you to recover the unpaid balance of your bill.
  5. Warn others. Many websites allow clients to rate their lawyer on effectiveness and professionalism. If you think others should avoid your lawyer, feel free to share your experiences at websites like Avvo.
    • Remember that information shared on the web is public. If you have an ongoing legal matter, the other side can see anything that you share about your case. Be careful not to reveal too much.
  6. Report your attorney to the Disciplinary Board. If you think your lawyer has violated the ethics rules or broken the law, then you should report him to the appropriate disciplinary board in your state.
    • The board will want documentation, such as billing records and your emails or letters. You should already have this information.

Tips

  • If you cannot get your attorney on the phone, schedule a 15-minute appointment for a phone call. Determine at the time of scheduling the appointment who will call whom.
  • Remember, lawyers are not miracle workers. Slow progress and unfavorable results may not be your attorney’s fault. Legal cases can proceed very slowly at times, and some cases simply cannot be won.
  • Your attorney's paralegal should be able to let you know how your case is proceeding, and may be much less busy than your attorney. Therefore, you should try to reach the paralegal if your attorney has not responded to you.

Warnings

  • Avoid firing your attorney at trial. Sometimes judges won't even allow a fired attorney to withdraw as counsel.
  • Be wary of firing your attorney simply because you disagree on strategy. If you are confused about her strategy, schedule a meeting to discuss it.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_1_6_confidentiality_of_information.html
  2. ↑ http://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_1_2_scope_of_representation_allocation_of_authority_between_client_lawyer.html
  3. ↑ http://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_1_7_conflict_of_interest_current_clients.html
  4. ↑ http://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_1_8_current_clients_specific_rules.html
  5. ↑ http://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_1_15_safekeeping_property.html
  6. ↑ http://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_1_2_scope_of_representation_allocation_of_authority_between_client_lawyer.html
  7. ↑ http://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_1_4_communications.html
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