He can’t say anything to anyone if you ask him to keep silent.
Ideally, you should be able to talk about any problems you have with the lawyer who is working for you now. But that doesn’t always work.
And if you are afraid of the repercussions of talking with your own lawyer about his work, it sounds like the relationship is in trouble anyway.
So if you want to talk to a second lawyer, here is what you should know.
The rules on lawyer conduct say that a lawyer is authorized to disclose information necessary to accomplish the task for which he is hired.
But if you’re just asking the new lawyer to tell you his opinion of the lawsuit, and whether he would be willing to be your lawyer, he may not need to talk about it with anyone. And if he does need to talk about it with other people, he should tell you. And if you ask him not to, he should observe that request.
He may tell you that good answers will require that you allow him to discuss the case with certain people – expert witnesses, your doctor, maybe even the opposing attorney. He may tell you that he needs to discuss the case with your present lawyer before he decides whether he will take over your case.
And you can tell him yes or no to all these questions.
If the second lawyer is any good – in my opinion – he probably will tell you that he can’t tell you how much you are going to get. But he can tell you if things look strange to him, and answer a lot of your questions. If you can bring documents with you, that will help him.
If you come to me asking to know whether another lawyer is doing a good job, I won’t talk to the other lawyer without discussing it with you first.
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 Injury Attorney 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. All discussions are limited to Ohio law unless otherwise indicated. And past performance cannot be used to predict future results.
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