Change of attorney?lawsuit
Question Details: I was injured in a car accident in 2005 which I was found not to be wrong.Imstill going to doctor once every 3months for shot in my neck.Im not happy with the representation from attorney cause he never lets me know whats happening(Im sure Im over $10,000 pip).Would there be a fee if I change now or if its to late.Im also starting to worry about the statute of Limitation to file my lawsuit or should I just wait until something happens?
I am a lawyer in CT and practice in this area of the law. The statute of limitations is generally 2-3 years at the most for car accidents. I hope that your lawyer filed the suit as you could be out of luck. I would check on that first. then, if you are not happy, you can switch lawyers. the lawyer representing you know would be compensated by the lawyer who took over. your money will not be affected. if the lawyer did not file the suit you may need to file a malpractice claim against him.
Agreeing with J.M.A except for one possible thing: what was your arrangement with your attorney? If he was being paid on contigency (i.e. getting a percentage of any recovery), then it is very likely that you could arrange it so that the new lawyer pays something to the old lawyer for the work done on the case. However, if you were paying a flat rate or hourly, then a new lawyer would almost certainly *not* foot those bills for you--you'd have to pay for the hours billed to date. Also, you may need to foot any expenses (e.g. witnesses, copying, fed ex, etc.) the original attorney has incurred, since a new attorney would probably not cover those. Check your agreement with your current attorney to see what the payment terms are.
But first, as J.M.A. says, you need to be mindful of the statute of limitations--act fast, since you may be running out of time, if not out already. If the attorney did cause you to miss your opportunity, then you might have a malpractice claim.
