![]() ![]() Frankly, at Lawrence & Associates Accident and Injury Lawyers, LLC we are often frustrated at the slow pace other law firms take, and we think the odds are that switching from unqualified counsel to qualified counsel will make your case go faster, and have a better result, than what would have happened if you didn’t switch at all. Most courts keep any deadlines that have been imposed, unless your new attorney asks for them to be moved due to the old attorney not doing things right the first time. What hurts or delays your case is having an unqualified attorney on it in the first place. Will Changing Attorneys Delay or Hurt My Case? Therefore, changing bankruptcy attorneys could cost more. To further complicate that, some other law firms’ contracts says the entire retainer is non-refundable, meaning that terminating those firms won’t get you any of your money back. If you then went to a new firm, that might cost you additional money because the second attorney would be duplicating at least some of the hours that we’d already worked. So if we were terminated in mid-preparation for the bankruptcy, it is possible that some of the retainer would not be returned. Lawrence & Associates Accident and Injury Lawyers, LLC’ contract says that – if we are terminated for any reason – we must return any portion of a paid retainer that was not earned based on the number of hours we worked. Bankruptcy attorneys are paid by the hour, although we often quote a flat rate for our fees because we know about how many hours are required to file a typical bankruptcy. It’s no extra money to the client, but each attorney gets only a portion of the whole.įor bankruptcy, the answer could be a little different. Since Attorneys A and B did the same amount of work, they’d split the fee in half and take $2,000 each. If the case settled for $12,000 and the contractual fee was 1/3 of that, then the attorney fee is $4,000 no matter how many attorneys have to split it. Both Attorney A and Attorney B put in the same amount of hours on the case. The client then goes to Attorney B, who successfully resolves the case. This could be shoddy work, but it doesn’t rise to the level of misconduct. For example, let’s say Attorney A is fired by his client because he was moving too slowly for the client’s taste, or lost some paperwork the client sent in. If the old attorney is not guilty of case related misconduct, then both attorneys are still limited to the fee due under the contract or the prevailing law. If so, the old attorney is not allowed to get any fee at all, and the new attorney simply earns whatever fee is due by law or contract. When you change attorneys mid-case, the first question to ask is whether the old attorney is guilty of any kind of ethical or legal misconduct related to your case. This is the good news: in all injury cases, the answer is no. ![]() Does It Cost Me Extra Money to Change Attorneys? Below, we answer some of the most frequently asked questions about changing attorneys that our prospective clients have. Luckily, you are not stuck with the attorney who does any of these things, or even with an attorney that you don’t think is devoting their full attention and resources to your case. Unfortunately, there are bad lawyers out there, as well as lawyers who get into criminal trouble, who retire, or who move their practices to other places far from your home and court. You should be able to trust your lawyer, and trust that your lawyer has the education, experience, and training to see your case through from beginning to end. One of the most common questions Lawrence & Associates Accident and Injury Lawyers, LLC’ attorneys receive, is about how someone can change attorneys. ![]()
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