Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

You can hire another attorney at any time you want. What any attorney is going to want is to see the retainer with the original case, and whether or not the defendant had insurance. It is not clear whether there is an unpaid judgment that needs to be collected, or the attorney took the money and did not give you your portion.

If you won a default judgment, then there is no need for a settlement. Instead, you need to collect the judgment you already won. Collection work is different from litigation, and it may not be covered by your contract with the original lawyer. It's also possible that the lawyer does not believe the judgment is collectible, though if that's why he stopped working on the case he should have told you so.

As Mr. Roach says, you can hire another lawyer to try to collect the judgment. She will want to see prior counsel's file and figure out how both she and her predecessor can get paid. That's perfectly normal.

Good luck.

Yes you can hire a new attorney. The new attorney will have to share the fee with the first attorney. Most fee agreements provide that the attorney is not required to collect on a judgment, but may sub out of a case in any event,

You already have a judgment, you aren't now seeking a 'settlement' but rather to collect on the judgment. Provide the new attorney a copy of your original retainer agreement so he can work out any fee payment or split required, before he accepts your case.

I would ask your original attorney for your entire file. He or she has an ethical duty to give it to you. When you go to see another attorney, bring the file so that you can get informed answers from the new attorney. Without the file, he or she will not know exactly what has been done to perfect the judgment. If the original attorney refuses to give you the file, mention politely that you may have to ask the State Bar for assistance. The file will be provided.