Can You Change Personal Injury Lawyers During a Case in California?
Hiring a personal injury lawyer is an important decision, but the attorney-client relationship does not always work out as expected. You may be concerned about poor communication, delays, an unexplained settlement recommendation, or the overall direction of your claim. When that happens, you may wonder whether you can change personal injury lawyers after your case has already started.
In California, clients generally have the right to change attorneys at any time, including after an insurance claim has been filed or a personal injury lawsuit has begun. However, changing lawyers should be handled carefully to protect your case, preserve important deadlines, and address any attorney-fee or litigation issues.
Before making a decision, it may help to review information about California personal injury cases and speak privately with another qualified attorney about the current status of your claim.
Do You Have the Right to Change Personal Injury Lawyers in California?
Yes. California law generally recognizes a client’s right to discharge an attorney, with or without cause. Under California Code of Civil Procedure Section 284, the attorney representing a party in an action or special proceeding may be changed before or after a judgment or final determination.
This means you are not necessarily required to continue working with an attorney merely because you signed a contingency-fee agreement or because the attorney has already completed work on your case. Nevertheless, the timing and procedure involved in making the change can affect how smoothly the case continues.
If a lawsuit has not yet been filed, changing lawyers may primarily involve terminating the existing representation, retaining new counsel, transferring the case file, and notifying the insurance companies involved. If a lawsuit is already pending, additional documents may need to be filed with the court.
Why Do Injured Clients Consider Changing Lawyers?
A disagreement or delayed phone call does not always mean that changing attorneys is necessary. Personal injury cases can involve lengthy medical treatment, insurance investigations, expert evaluations, discovery, negotiations, and litigation. Some periods of limited activity may be normal.
However, recurring communication problems or concerns about how the case is being managed can damage the trust required for an effective attorney-client relationship.
Your Lawyer Does Not Return Calls or Provide Updates
Clients should receive reasonable information about significant developments in their cases. If repeated calls and emails are ignored, you may not understand whether medical records have been obtained, whether the insurance carrier has responded, or whether a lawsuit has been filed.
Before changing attorneys, consider requesting a written case update addressing the work completed, outstanding issues, upcoming deadlines, settlement discussions, and the next recommended steps.
You Do Not Understand the Legal Strategy
An attorney should be able to explain the general strategy being used to pursue compensation. You may have legitimate concerns if you do not understand why a demand has not been submitted, why certain evidence has not been collected, or why the attorney recommends accepting or rejecting a settlement.
Clients considering a second opinion can review these questions to ask a personal injury attorney before interviewing another lawyer.
You Feel Pressured to Accept a Settlement
A personal injury attorney can advise you about the strengths, weaknesses, risks, and potential value of an offer. The attorney may recommend accepting a settlement based on the available evidence, insurance limits, disputed liability, medical history, or litigation risks.
However, the final decision about whether to accept a settlement ordinarily belongs to the client. You should understand the proposed settlement, deductions, medical liens, attorney fees, costs, and estimated net recovery before authorizing an agreement.
The Lawyer Appears Unprepared to Litigate the Case
Many personal injury claims settle without a trial, but settlement negotiations may be influenced by whether the opposing party believes the claim is being prepared for litigation. Concerns may arise when an attorney repeatedly delays filing suit, fails to preserve evidence, or appears unwilling to prepare the case for depositions, mediation, arbitration, or trial.
This concern can be particularly important in cases involving catastrophic injuries, disputed liability, multiple defendants, commercial vehicles, permanent disabilities, or substantial future medical expenses.
Your Case Has Been Reassigned Without a Clear Explanation
Law firms may use teams of attorneys, paralegals, investigators, and legal assistants. Having several professionals work on a case is not necessarily a problem. However, clients may become concerned when a case is repeatedly transferred between lawyers without an explanation or when no one appears responsible for moving the claim forward.
What Should You Do Before Changing Personal Injury Lawyers?
Request a Complete Status Update
Ask your current attorney for a written summary of your case. The summary should identify important deadlines, pending insurance decisions, medical records received, experts retained, offers made, litigation dates, outstanding discovery, and expenses advanced by the firm.
A status update may resolve a misunderstanding. If it does not, the information can help another attorney determine whether the case can be transferred without unnecessary delay.
Review Your Contingency-Fee Agreement
Read the agreement you signed when the representation began. Pay attention to provisions addressing termination, litigation costs, medical-record expenses, expert fees, attorney liens, and the calculation of attorney fees.
Changing lawyers does not automatically eliminate the former attorney’s potential claim for compensation. A discharged contingency-fee attorney may seek payment for the reasonable value of services performed before the representation ended. The amount and timing of any payment can depend on the agreement, the work completed, the reason for termination, and the ultimate result of the case.
Speak With Another Attorney Before Ending Representation
Whenever possible, speak with a prospective new lawyer before terminating your existing attorney. A new attorney will need to review the case facts, filing deadlines, insurance coverage, medical treatment, available evidence, prior negotiations, and procedural history.
The new lawyer is not required to accept the case. Cases approaching a filing deadline, trial, discovery cutoff, or important hearing can require substantial immediate work. Securing new representation first may reduce the risk of being left without counsel during a critical stage.
Do Not Allow Deadlines to Expire
Changing attorneys does not pause the statute of limitations or extend a court deadline. Many California personal injury lawsuits are subject to the two-year limitations period described in California Code of Civil Procedure Section 335.1, but shorter deadlines and exceptions can apply.
Claims involving public entities, minors, delayed discovery of an injury, wrongful death, professional negligence, or other circumstances may be governed by different rules. An attorney should evaluate the specific deadline applicable to your claim.
How Do You Change Personal Injury Lawyers?
Retain the New Attorney
After reviewing your case, the new attorney may provide a written representation agreement. Carefully review the proposed contingency percentage, responsibility for litigation costs, settlement authority, termination provisions, and the services included.
Notify Your Current Attorney in Writing
Your current lawyer should receive clear written notice that the representation is ending. In many situations, the new law firm can prepare and send the notification on your behalf.
The written notice should request that the former attorney stop communicating with insurance carriers and opposing counsel on your behalf and transfer the complete case file to the new attorney.
Transfer the Client File
California professional-conduct rules generally require an attorney, upon termination, to release client materials and property promptly when requested. The file may include correspondence, medical records, accident reports, photographs, witness information, pleadings, discovery, deposition transcripts, expert materials, insurance communications, settlement offers, and electronically stored documents.
The applicable obligations are addressed in the State Bar of California’s Rules of Professional Conduct concerning the lawyer-client relationship.
File a Substitution of Attorney When a Lawsuit Is Pending
When a personal injury lawsuit has already been filed, the change must ordinarily be documented with the court. California courts use Form MC-050, Substitution of Attorney—Civil, to notify the court and the other parties that one attorney is replacing another.
When everyone cooperates, the client, former attorney, and new attorney may sign the substitution. If the former attorney refuses to sign or another disagreement arises, a court motion or additional procedure may be required.
Notify Insurance Companies and Other Parties
The new attorney can notify insurance carriers, medical providers, lienholders, experts, defense attorneys, and other involved parties that future communications should be directed to the new firm.
This step can help prevent confidential communications, settlement offers, or important documents from being sent to the wrong attorney.
Will Changing Lawyers Cost You More Money?
Changing personal injury attorneys does not necessarily mean that you will pay two complete contingency fees. In many cases, the former and successor attorneys address their respective fee claims from the attorney-fee portion of an eventual settlement or judgment.
The former attorney may assert a lien or seek compensation based on the reasonable value of the work performed before discharge. The successor attorney may negotiate the allocation of fees with the former attorney. The result depends on the contracts, case history, services performed, and applicable law.
You should ask the prospective new lawyer to explain in writing how the change may affect attorney fees, advanced costs, liens, and your estimated net recovery. Do not assume that a fee issue will resolve itself without reviewing the agreements.
When a dispute over attorney fees cannot be resolved, the State Bar of California provides information about attorney-client fee arbitration.
Can Your Former Lawyer Keep Your File Until a Fee Is Paid?
A fee disagreement does not necessarily permit a former lawyer to withhold materials that the client needs to protect the case. California’s professional-conduct rules contain requirements concerning the prompt release of client materials and property following termination of representation.
The former firm may retain copies at its own expense and may separately pursue a valid claim for fees or reimbursable costs. Any dispute should be addressed without allowing an insurance, filing, discovery, or trial deadline to expire.
Can Changing Attorneys Hurt Your Personal Injury Case?
Changing attorneys can create temporary administrative work, but it does not automatically weaken a valid personal injury claim. The effect depends largely on timing, cooperation between the firms, the condition of the case file, and the new attorney’s ability to become familiar with the matter.
A change may become more difficult when trial is approaching, discovery is incomplete, experts have not been retained, or a statute of limitations is about to expire. It can also create complications if the client has already signed a settlement release or authorized a binding agreement.
On the other hand, changing counsel may benefit a case when the new attorney identifies missing evidence, develops a clearer litigation strategy, improves communication, or has experience with the particular type of accident involved. Information about different accident and injury claims is available through the firm’s personal injury practice areas.
What Will a New Personal Injury Lawyer Review?
A prospective attorney will ordinarily examine the date and location of the accident, the identity of all potentially responsible parties, available insurance policies, police or incident reports, photographs, video evidence, witness information, medical treatment, prior injuries, lost-income documentation, settlement offers, liens, and applicable deadlines.
If litigation has begun, the review may also include the complaint, answers, discovery responses, deposition testimony, court orders, expert designations, motions, mediation briefs, and the current trial schedule.
You should provide complete and accurate information, including unfavorable facts. A lawyer cannot properly evaluate whether to accept the case without understanding its strengths, weaknesses, procedural posture, and financial requirements.
Questions to Ask a New Personal Injury Attorney
Ask who will be primarily responsible for your case, how often you can expect updates, whether the firm is prepared to file or continue litigation, and how the attorney evaluates the current strategy.
You should also ask how existing attorney liens and advanced costs will be handled, whether any deadlines require immediate action, and whether the new firm sees problems with the evidence or prior handling of the claim.
Additional educational information can be found in the personal injury guide, the firm’s personal injury FAQs, and its published case results. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome in another case.
Speak With a California Personal Injury Lawyer About Changing Attorneys
If you are dissatisfied with your current representation, you do not have to make the decision alone. Russell & Lazarus APC can review the status of your personal injury claim, discuss the concerns you have about your current representation, and determine whether the firm may be able to assist with the transition.
The firm represents injured individuals in matters involving car accidents, truck collisions, motorcycle accidents, pedestrian injuries, bicycle crashes, premises liability, dog bites, catastrophic injuries, wrongful death, and other negligence claims throughout California.
Contact Russell & Lazarus APC to request a complimentary case evaluation. Bring your representation agreement, correspondence, medical records, settlement offers, court documents, and any information concerning upcoming deadlines.
FAQs
1. Can I fire my personal injury lawyer during a California case?
California clients generally have the right to discharge their attorneys with or without cause. However, you should consider securing new counsel first and making sure that filing, discovery, hearing, and trial deadlines remain protected.
2. Do I need a reason to change personal injury lawyers?
You generally do not need to prove misconduct or negligence before changing attorneys. Clients may change lawyers because of communication problems, strategic disagreements, loss of trust, lack of progress, or another concern about the representation.
3. Can I change lawyers after a personal injury lawsuit has been filed?
Yes. When litigation is pending, the parties will ordinarily need to notify the court by filing a Substitution of Attorney or completing another court-approved procedure.
4. Can I change attorneys shortly before trial?
It may be possible, but changing lawyers shortly before trial can be more complicated. The new attorney must have enough time to review discovery, prepare witnesses, evaluate experts, address motions, and comply with court orders. The court may also consider whether the change would delay proceedings.
5. Will I have to pay two personal injury lawyers?
You do not necessarily pay two full contingency fees. The former and new attorneys may address the division of fees based on their agreements, the reasonable value of the work performed, and the ultimate recovery. Costs advanced by the former firm may also require repayment or allocation.
6. What happens to my case file after I change attorneys?
Your former attorney should transfer the client materials and property needed for the continued representation. The new attorney will review the file, identify missing information, update involved parties, and determine which deadlines or tasks require immediate attention.
7. What happens if my former attorney refuses to sign the substitution form?
The new attorney may need to use another court procedure to request removal or substitution of counsel. A refusal to sign does not necessarily eliminate the client’s ability to end the attorney-client relationship.
8. Can I change lawyers after receiving a settlement offer?
Receiving an offer does not necessarily prevent you from changing attorneys. However, the situation may be different if you already accepted the offer, signed a release, or authorized a binding settlement. A new attorney should review all communications and documents before advising you.
9. Will the insurance company use the attorney change against me?
An insurance company may notice the change, but replacing counsel does not determine liability or the value of your injuries. The new attorney should promptly notify the insurer, organize the file, and continue developing the evidence supporting your claim.
10. How quickly can a new personal injury lawyer take over my case?
The timing depends on the size of the file, the cooperation of prior counsel, the stage of litigation, and upcoming deadlines. Cases near a filing deadline, deposition, mediation, expert disclosure, or trial may require immediate action.
Legal Disclaimer: This article is provided for general informational purposes and is not legal advice. Changing attorneys can affect fees, costs, liens, court procedures, and important deadlines. The applicable rules and available options depend on the specific facts and procedural status of each case.