Yes. If you fire a lawyer before you’ve hired a new one, it looks bad, and you are “vulnerable” until you have a new attorney.
It looks bad because a lot of lawyers, judges and insurance adjusters are used to thinking of lawyers as reasonable people, and may assume that a break in the relationship is the client’s fault. That could affect the value of your case unless you hire a good new lawyer.
You are vulnerable, because once your lawyer is fired, the court will give you a short fuse – maybe as few as 30 days – to hire a new one. That’s a lot of pressure to make a really important decision in little time.
And if you don’t have a lawyer, the lawyer for the other side can communicate with you directly. Most insurance lawyers will wait until you have a new lawyer before talking with you after you have fired your lawyer; but not all of them will, and most people make better decisions with a lawyer’s advice.
If you have a good case, it won’t take too much time or effort to get a new lawyer. And if you can’t get a new lawyer quickly, that may tell you something.
Will you still have to pay your former lawyer? Yes, but a lot of time things can be worked out; if the fired lawyer wants his money, sooner or later he will have to either settle with you or submit his claim to judgment by arbitrators, a judge or a jury. And – believe it or not – lawyers don’t like being judged any more than you do.
I have been a lawyer over 30 years. Most attorneys know what they are doing, and most do a good job. But that isn’t true of everyone. If you have a personal injury case in Cincinnati, Ohio or if you want to know what your lawsuit is worth, talk with an experienced Cincinnati Personal Injury Lawyer about the case. Call me, William Strubbe, at 513-621-4775.
Because all situations are different, and because there may be other facts pertaining to your case that I don’t know about, you should not rely on this answer for legal advice. I am not your attorney, and no lawyer client relationship has been formed. And past performance cannot be used to predict future results.
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