Legal Question in Personal Injury in Oklahoma

Re: my rights as a client

Thank you for your question. You asked "what are my rights". I am not sure if you are asking about your rights to have copies of what the attorney has in his file or your rights to have a surgery on your back. I have not seen your contract with the attorney so I do not know if it contained anything concerning copies. Under state laws that regulate attorney/client matters is a requirement that the attorney keep his client informed. As a general rule attorneys send their clients copies of letters and other papers pertaining to the case. I do not think your request for copies of documents is unreasonable. You might be expected to pay for the copies. Concerning your back surgery, I do not have enough facts to understand what occurred and probably should not say anything other than it would be very unusual for me to call my client's doctor and cancel a back surgery. So not knowing the facts I cannot give you an intelligent response. If you are dissatisfied with your attorney, fire him and get another. There is no scarcity of attorneys.

Re: my rights as a client

You certainly have a right to copies of your medical records obtained by your attorney. Sometimes an attorney may not want to provide copies if there are a large number of pages. Your attorney should be willing(and it is just good practice) to provide you with copies of correspondence, settlement brochures, pleadings, accident investigation reports, etc, as the case progresses. You have the right to be kept informed at all times, and the best(and easiest for the attorney) way is to simply provide copies of these documents.

I would want to know why the attorney canceled your surgery. I would also want to know why your doctor allowed him to cancel your surgery. This sounds very irregular, but it is possible that there is a good explanation-although I can't think of one. In my opinion, decisions regarding treatment should always be made by the client, and that is your right.