What this article covers
Show More
You can switch out your personal injury lawyer with a new one in the middle of a case. However, you must understand what we cover in this article to ensure the best experience.
The situation is you're unhappy about the current state of your personal injury case, or you don't get along with your personal injury lawyer and want to switch personal injury lawyers.
However, this is your first time working with an attorney, and you are in the dark about how to begin switching lawyers.
Luckily, you found this article where we teach and inform you about switching lawyers during a personal injury case in hopes you work with the best lawyer and don't get trapped.
Why Might You Switch Lawyers During a Personal Injury Case
Some reasons that may prompt you to switch attorneys could be:
Poor Communication
Getting updates on your legal claim could be difficult if an attorney is unresponsive or generally slow in responding to calls or emails.
Experience Concerns
You have doubts about the lawyer's expertise and feel the lawyer's strategy won't provide the best settlement for you.
Conflict of Interest
You discover a conflict of interest that hurts your lawyer-client relationship. This conflict could be that the lawyer is good friends with other parties involved.
Fee Disputes
You have disagreed over legal fees or billing methods with your current attorney. In addition, you may discover hidden or unexpected charges that take away from your personal injury lawsuit amount.
Case Direction
Your personal injury case may have taken a direction that you disagree with. This could be the handling of legal proceedings or their legal process.
Personality Clashes
Simply, you may not be able to get along with your current attorney. If you don't change lawyers, it could cause a conflict between the client and the lawyer relationship.
Negligence or Misconduct
If you have evidence that your attorney handled your case with negligence or committed mispractice on your case, we insist that you not only change attorneys but also file a complaint against that attorney.
How To Switch Lawyers in a Personal Injury Case
You may have a reason to switch personal injury lawyers, but you're not sure how other people switch lawyers. It's crucial to get this part right, as if you don't, it could cause significant disruptions to your legal claim.
Evaluate your decision. Ensure your reasons for wanting to change lawyers are based on reasoning and logic and not an impulse decision.
Consult with a new lawyer. Before changing lawyers, counsel with a new lawyer that best fits your needs. Make sure to thoroughly discuss your case with the new attorney to better your chances of not needing to switch personal injury lawyers again.
Review the contract. When switching attorneys, review the current lawyer's contract, mainly any termination clauses, fees, and obligations. Doing this will help keep you out of any legal problems with your current lawyer.
Notify your current lawyer. Even if you dislike your old lawyer, write them a formal notice informing them you are finding new representation. Make sure to include reasons and complaints.
Obtain case files. You must ensure your old attorney hands over all relevant files, documents, and evidence relating to your case. This will provide a clean transition to your new lawyer.
Coordinate the transition. Connect your new attorney with your old one so the new lawyer can get any missed case details or files from the old lawyer.
File a substitution of attorney form. You may need to file a substitution of attorney form with the court to change your attorney officially. Make sure to counsel with your new attorney about doing this.
Address Financial Obligations. After you change lawyers, resolve any outstanding fees or refunds with your former lawyer.
Challenges That Could Occur When Switching Lawyers
When changing attorneys, possible problems could arise. Knowing these potential problems is essential so you may know how to act when they occur.
Potential Delays. Changing lawyers could delay the time till settlement. However, this can be avoided if you inform your new attorney of what progress the old one made.
Communication Problems. Miscommunication or lack of effective communication could occur between the old and new attorney, which can cause delays in your case. Ensure that when you counsel with your new lawyer, you hand over all relevant contact information of the old one.
Additional Costs. You may face additional costs from the new and old attorneys when changing lawyers. But if you have a car accident case, you should be able to switch without extra fees.
Lost Case Knowledge. When getting new representation, there may be valuable information that is lost when the original lawyer. Avoid this by getting as much case information from the old attorney as possible.
New Legal Team. When working with a new personal injury attorney, you will need to build trust and communicate with a new law office and its team.
Situations Where You Can't Switch Lawyer in the Middle of a Case
In most cases, clients can switch attorneys; however, there can be times when they will not have that right, or switching lawyers is just a wrong move for the case.
Substitution of Counsel rule. This rule keeps a case moving forward and prevents people from switching lawyers to delay a case. If changing attorneys will delay the case, you may be unable to do so.
Statute of Limitations. If your personal injury case is approaching the two-year mark, switching attorneys may not be practical due to the approaching time constraint.
Conflict of interest. If the new personal injury lawyer you want to represent already has a relationship with other parties involved, you may be unable to make the switch.
What Gives You The Right to Switch Lawyers
The Sixth Amendment states, "and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense." this line gives you the right to choose and switch legal representation.
Make The Switch Today
If you want to switch lawyers, make sure you make the right switch and hire Attorney Rodney Okano, who has handled hundreds of personal injury cases in Las Vegas over his 20+ years of experience.
Get a free consultation today by calling (702) 566-3600 and learn how to make the switch.
Contact a nevada lawyer today
Your message has been received.
One of our attorneys will contact you using the number you provided.
First Name
Last Name
Back
more from us
Visit today for a free consultation.
Practice Areas
Auto Accidents
Car Accidents Truck Accidents Bus Accidents Taxi Accidents Aggressive Driving Accidents Hit And Run AccidentsPersonal Injury
Dog Bites Wrongful DeathView All
Youtube
Linkedin
Facebook
