Can I Fire My Georgia Car Accident Lawyer And Hire A New Attorney?

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This article was updated January 2024

What To Do When Your Lawyer Isn’t Helping You

In the aftermath of a car accident, we are left to make a number of quick decisions, including hiring a lawyer. While dealing with serious injuries from a car accident, people cannot take the time to research Atlanta personal injury attorneys and sometimes make mistakes and hire the wrong attorney.

Clients usually realize they’ve hired the wrong law firm when weeks, or even months, have passed and their lawyer won’t return their calls, they don’t know anything about their case, and a firm assistant keeps taking messages and saying everything is fine.

As a client, you have a right to speak with your lawyer and get direct answers to your questions. Your lawyer should explain how Georgia insurance works, expectations in your case, process, timelines, and set goals. If you have not discussed these things with your current attorney, it’s time to switch to a car accident attorney focused on you!

How Can I Fire My Car Accident Lawyer?

Typically, it is very easy to fire a car accident or wrongful death lawyer, unless the other drivers insurance company has already made you an offer. If your previous attorney had you sign a contract similar to most car accident attorneys, he or she will not present you with a bill and you are entitled to your complete file.

If you hire a new lawyer, they will have to pay off any attorney’s lien that the original lawyer takes out but this does not come out of your pocket.

Here is an example of how the original attorney’s lien will be paid: You hire lawyer A and few months into your case you become frustrated about lack of communication with your current lawyer. You signed a contract at 33.33% for the lawyers’ fee. You fire lawyer A and hire lawyer B. Lawyer B eventually obtains a settlement of $100,000.00 on a 33.33% bases.

Lawyer A files an attorney’s lien claiming they spent $4,000.00 worth of time on your case before you fired them. Lawyer B would be paid the $33,333.33 from the gross settlement and out of that money Lawyer B would pay off Lawyer A’s lien. You still get the same client’s share of the settlement.

How Do I Decide Whether I Should Change Lawyers?

Since hiring legal counsel, if you cannot speak to your lawyer on the phone, cannot get answers to your questions, and have not heard any sort of strategy for how your case will proceed, you may be having an uneasy feeling about your lawyer.

You need to consider a few things to determine if you need to hire a new attorney.

Questions to ask if you need to hire a new attorney

If you answered “yes” to more than one of these questions, then you may need a new lawyer. You should contact your lawyer and insist on an in-person meeting so you can get all of your questions answered. If you are still not satisfied, fire them.

If you have already made up your mind that you hired the wrong attorney then you’re probably wondering, how do I fire my lawyer and what do I owe them if I do?

Here’s what you need to know:

Firing Your Attorney Before There is an Offer

It does not cost anything extra to fire your first lawyer

Georgia law says that a personal injury attorney is entitled to be paid for the value of the work they put into a client’s case. However, the amount the lawyer is entitled to changes once the other driver’s insurance company has made an offer. Early in your case it is unlikely there will be an offer so you will only owe the lawyer money based on the amount of time they spent working on your case. In month 1 or 2 that should be a fairly small amount. If you terminate your lawyer and hire another one, the money owed to the first lawyer comes out of the same one-third (⅓) attorney’s fee portion.

To illustrate, if you fire lawyer A and then hire lawyer B, each of their contracts likely provides that they are entitled to one-third or 33.33% of the gross recovery pre-suit. (unless you are getting ripped off by a lawyer charging 40% fees pre-suit) So, when you fire lawyer 1, you pay them nothing at that time. If down the road, your car accident lawyer settles the case and recovers $25,000.00 for you, 1/3 of the money goes to lawyer B and he or she then has to deal with paying out to lawyer A. It is not your problem. In summary, it does not cost anything extra to fire your first lawyer and hire a second one.

You Have an Offer but it is Low and You Want to Fire Your Lawyer

Once an offer is made by the car insurance company, the lawyer’s contract will provide that they are entitled to their fee no matter what. You cannot fire the lawyer and accept the offer because they will assert an attorney lien with the insurance company. In this situation, it is difficult to make a smooth transition to another injury lawyer.

The best thing to do is, pick up the phone and call around and get a sampling of legal opinions. There are a number of low-grade personal injury lawyers in Atlanta that regularly underprice and mishandle files.

Sometimes, a more experienced personal injury lawyer can spot the value in the case or develop a stronger theory of liability in your case.

Frequently Asked Question About Wanting to Fire Your Lawyer

Question: My daughter is 19 and she was in a car accident. She just signed a legal agreement to hire a lawyer to handle her accident case with injuries. My daughter is a little concerned about the new attorney and really did not get a good feeling about them. She is having second thoughts and really does not want the attorney to handle her case. She just signed the contract less than a week ago. Can she just send him an email firing him?

Answer: Yes, you can absolutely fire the lawyer at this point. They have done little to no work on your daughter’s case. Talk to another lawyer and get another opinion. You deserve to have a lawyer that answers your questions and makes you feel comfortable.

How Do I Tell My Lawyer I am Firing Them?

Send them email stating something like this:

“Dear Lazy Lawyer,

I am terminating your services. (You may want to state a specific reason like you are unhappy with the lack of attention, failure to return calls, laziness, etc – insert your reason here ) I have decided to go in another direction with my case (You may want to say you are handling the case on your own or with another attorney) and I will need to pick up my file as soon as possible. Please call me when my file is ready to be picked up.

Sincerely, Unhappy Client”

You will want to follow up with the attorney’s office to confirm receipt of your termination letter the next day. Once you fire your lawyer, you or your new attorney should advise the insurance company in writing that the previous lawyer no longer represents you.

If you’re looking for a new legal representation, we are happy to answer your questions and help you get the compensation you deserve.

Nick Martin
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