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Can I Fire My Lawyer Before Settlement? Will My Old Attorney be Paid?

Can I fire my personal injury lawyer

An injured victim is entitled to the best lawyer in Rhode Island to represent him in a RI car accident, workers compensation or slip and fall claim.A RI personal injury lawyer answers several frequently asked questions concerning the law relating to a client firing an inept, disappointing and ineffective personal injury lawyer.

Does injured person have right to obtain a new lawyer?

Does the injured victim have the right to obtain a new car  accident attorney if an injured victim is disappointing with an injury lawyer, who is representing the claimant in a negligence cause of action? Pursuant to Rhode Island legal ethics laws, a client has the right to obtain a new personal injury lawyer at any time during the legal representation. The client is actually the owner of the vast majority of the legal file. The prior lawyer must turn over nearly all of the negligence legal file to the new attorneys.

  • Can I fire my personal injury attorney and represent myself?  Yes but the old adage is someone who represents themselves has a fool for a lawyer. People who represent themselves get smaller settlements and may lose the case as a result.
  • Can I fire my personal injury lawyer?
  • Can I fire my attorney the day of trial? This is a suicidal proposition because the trial judge may not allow you a continuance to get a new lawyer.
  • What is good cause to fire a lawyer? You do not need good cause to fire a lawyer. If you want a new lawyer for any reason you can get a new personal injury lawyer.
  • Can I fire an attorney on contingency? Yes. You can fire a law firm on contingency.

If I obtain a new RI personal injury lawyer, who is liable to compensate the prior discharged liability attorney?

Your prior  lawyer may assert a ‘statutory lien’ against your car wreck, ozempic lawsuitpremises liability claim, Bard Powerport lawsuit, slip and fall or trucking accident, cause of action. Once there is a settlement with the tortfeasor and the liability and indemnity insurance company forwards your new injury lawyer the settlement funds, then the Rhode Island attorneys will sort out what is fair compensation for the lawyer you fired.  The client is not required to compensate the prior attorney out of their own funds. When your RI car crash lawsuit or claim is settled or when your RI personal injury lawyer receives the settlement cash as a result of a verdict after a trial in Providence Superior Court or after a settlement, the old and the new lawyer will equitably divide the settlement funds.

Retaining a new RI personal injury lawyer

It does not cost the injured victim anything additional as a result of retaining a new RI personal injury lawyer. The Providence lawyers involved must come to an agreement as to the ‘cut’ received by the attorney. If the injured victim retains new counsel, then the attorneys will split the Thirty Three Percent contingency fee. Most automobile accident and other negligence and liability claims such as motor vehicle accidents are litigated on a contingency fee basis. This means in which the RI car accident lawyer agrees to take a third of the settlement obtained by the victim. If the injured victim hires a new personal injury lawyer, then the attorneys will split the (33%).

What types of personal injury and negligence claims are handled on a contingency fee basis?

What do I do if the lawyer I fired  and the new attorney are squabbling over fees in a nasty fee dispute?

If the lawyers are fighting over their cut of the settlement and cannot agree on how to divide the lawyer’s fees then they can submit the dispute to the Rhode Island Bar Association fee dispute arbitration. Otherwise, the RI personal injury lawyers can litigate. It is not the victim’s concern how the tort attorneys divide the auto crash attorney’s fees because there is no additional expense or cost to obtain a new lawyer! If the old and new lawyer are warring over the division of the lawyer’s fee, they must still hand over the victim’s share of the cash to the injured victim prior to the resolution of the feud.

For other legal articles by David Slepkow, please go here