Is it allowed to switch a lawyer during an ongoing litigation?
During a dispute or an accident that an individual was involved in, it is a in initiative to take a legal assitance from a lawyer to settle a case in question as well as the hope of the plaintiffs (affirmed victim of an accident or case) to be rewarded in form of financial help to cover their medical expenses and other expenditures within the course of an accident through the process of filing a claim which is only possible with the help of an apt attorney, personal injury attorneys.
From public stereotypes, attorneys are apt for any case and knowledgable enough to accept any scenario of cases that their clients demand so. But, unfortunately, oftentimes some hired lawyers by new and inexperienced clients are also new and inexperienced which is a bad match up againt defendant’s set of law firm which could greatly affect the general outcome of a case being cleared. Also, these clients often hire the wrong lawyer for their case being faced, for an example, they hire a lawyer that practices business while they are filing and facing for their personal injury claim caused by a car crash which limits the possibilities of winning the case, in obvious success.
The scenarios above are some causes that affect the case and make clients to decide to switch a lawyer in the middle of civil litigation. Aside from the obvious, here are some common reasons clients switch their lawyers mid-litigation:
- The client doesn’t trust the lawyer or he/she demands/prefer a lawyer with personal connection
- The lawyer hired cut off communication with you or barely communicates
- Lawyer hired is not intersted in the case or has conflict of interest
- The case is taking long to settle due to the fact that the hired lawyer is not up for the task
- The lawyer hired has died
How does a client switch up to another lawyer?
Switching to a new lawyer is pretty simple process, it ranges from finding to another lawyer up to writing a letter to your present lawyer to demand a change. In details, here are some common processes that a client may go through:
- Hire a New Attorney – After notifying your hired lawyer that you are no longer working with him/her for your case, might as well hire a new lawyer through the same process how you find your previous lawyer. Though, it may stall the settlement process, but it is worth it.
- Retainer Agreement – A retainer agreement is a work-for-hire contract between a service firm and you, client, that retains an ongoing service from you. After you and your new lawyer signed the retainer agreement, then that lawyer has rights to represent you and your case.
- Attorney Change – In this process, both previous and new attorneys are involved where the new attorney will send paperworks to the old attorney, to the court, and to the insurance company that states that the new attorney will handle the case and the previous attorney is no longer working with the client.
How can it affect to your general settlement of the case?
Contrary to most, changing a lawyer wont affect your case negatively. On the hindsight, if you, as the client, believed that you have hired the wrong lawyer for you, switching to a correct one would positively improve your mental health and your case in general. It is true that there are some lawyers that is not for you and the case won’t progress and would stress you out too.
But there are some situations where a client can’t change to a new lawyer even if he/she desires so, for an instance, if the process of changing lawyers could delay the court case, judge tend to not to approve the switch.
Ryan Injury Lawyers
If you are having hard time with your hired lawyer, you can switch up to a better one with more sense of committment and competence to lessen your mental and financial burden and settle your case to claim you settlement pay immediately. Ryan Injury Lawyers is an Ohio based injury lawyer that represents victims of personal injury caused by car accidents, medical malpractice due to medical professional’s negligence, and even wrongful death against large companies, agencies and even individuals. We have 40 years of experience doing our service in this field and evidently successful with our civil litigations. Call our office now for free legal consultation.