Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

You can fire your lawyer at any time for any reason. The lawyer might file a lien in the case for his/her fees and costs to date. The fees will be based on the amount of hours spent handling the case times his/her hourly rate as set forth in your contract with the attorney. Whether or not you can get out of paying the attorney when you settle the case or collect a judgment will depend on whether you had good cause to terminate the contract with your attorney. You have the right to arbitrate the dispute and mediation to resolve the dispute over the lien is usually an option. Depending on the amount of the lien the attorney may not bother with it. The best thing is for you to have a consultation with another lawyer or a few other lawyers and hire someone to replace your present attorney. Your new lawyer will deal with your present lawyer and resolve any dispute over fees and costs. Make sure you hire a new attorney before firing your present lawyer. In some cases you might find it difficult or impossible to get a new lawyer particularly if your case was already filed in court. You can file a complaint with the State Bar but that will not resolve your problem. If you have lost confidence in your attorney the best thing is probably to try getting someone else right away.