Legal Question in Criminal Law in Maryland

Can a Lawyer Leave You Hanging

I have a brother that is in jail. His lawyer was not getting back with him in a timely fashion. So a lawyer that he had previously came to see him about another case. The first lawyer took offense to this and removed himself from the case 2 weeks before he was suppose to go to trial. Is this ethical and since he was paid in full shouldn't he pay him back more then half his money since he abandon him on such short notice. My brother is currently incarcerated and he sent the notice to my mother's house. If he was a good lawyer like he claimed to have been shouldn't that notice had went to the detention facility. Especially since the lawyer in question knew where he was??


Asked on 11/09/02, 8:42 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
G. Joseph Holthaus III Law Offices of G. Joseph Holthaus

Re: Can a Lawyer Leave You Hanging

Especially with criminal cases, a lawyer cannot withdraw from a case in the manner as you describe.

This is precisely why an attorney wants to be paid up front for criminal cases. Withdraw of an attorney of record requires permission of court. Given that the attorney sought to withdraw very close to the onset of trial,

it is unlikely that a judge would grant a motion for withdraw. A "full" refund appears to be in order, unless there is some other matter that you have not stated. Moreover, the new attorney should review the record to determine whether there is

anything that can be of advantage to your brother's case that may relate to non-representation from the prior attorney.

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Answered on 11/12/02, 10:05 am


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