personal injury lawyerSo you have found a personal injury lawyer who has agreed to represent you and eventually help you to win your case. But somewhere along the way, he drops you as a client. Perhaps the biggest question that’s lingering on your mind is why did he drop you as a client?

Terminating an attorney client relationship before the resolution of a case is serious which is why the American Bar Association developed guidelines for lawyers to use if they must terminate a relationship with a client while the case is still ongoing. These guidelines are found in the Model Rules of Professional Responsibility and they have been adopted in many jurisdictions.

The rules allow your lawyer to terminate his relationship with you if withdrawal from the case does not affect your interests or if they have a good cause for terminating the relationship. But keep in mind that there are certain situations where your lawyer will terminate your case even if it will hurt your case. So we are going to look at some of the situations that can make a lawyer withdraw from your case.

Why Your Personal Injury Lawyer Withdrew From Your Case

Conflict of Interest

Your personal injury lawyer may have realized that representing you presents a conflict of interest to him. Personal injury lawyers and their firms are not allowed to represent companies or people who are adversaries.

There are situations where your lawyer can ask for permission from each party acknowledging the conflict and allowing the attorney to represent both of each.

You Failed to Fulfill Obligations, Communicate or Corporate

In order for your lawyer to be able to do his job well, there needs to be regular communication between the two of you. He may need you to answer some questions or assist him in any way that you can to help him get you the justice that you deserve. If you intentionally fail to respond to his requests then he cannot represent you to the best of his ability and he may be allowed to pull out of your case.

You Are Difficult to Work With

Your lawyer will not be able to give you the best representation if you constantly interfere with how he does his job. For instance, in an attempt to show your lawyer how helpful you are, you bring him tons of legal and medical research that you have done on your own and insist that he uses the information. Lawyers know how to do their own research with their own tools so it’s doubtful they’ll need your help in that area.

Another way you can make it difficult for your lawyer to do his job is when you have unrealistic expectations. For example, some clients expect to recover a certain amount based on what they heard someone else recovered in a similar case. This is unrealistic because no two cases are identical. You didn’t suffer the same injuries under the same circumstances and you probably don’t have the same medical bills so there’s a high chance you might not recover the same amount in damages.

You are engaging in Criminal Activities

If your lawyer has warned you against continuing with criminal or fraudulent activities but you still insist on continuing with them, he will have no option but to withdraw from the case. Your lawyer is bound by certain ethical and legal obligations and as part of those obligations, they cannot turn a blind eye as you continue doing illegal activities. They can also withdraw from your case if they realize that you are using their services to commit illegal activities.

What To Do When Your Attorney Wants to Quit

Is there a way you can convince your attorney to continue representing you? The answer is yes but it’s not a guarantee that the strategy will work. Here are a few suggestions that might work in your favor.

Personality Problems

If your personal injury lawyer finds it difficult to work with you based on your personality problems, it’s time you started making changes. If you have unrealistic expectations, you’ve asked your lawyer to do something unethical or you are trying to commit something illegal, it’s time to stop.

Your lawyer already has his plate full of unpleasant things he has to deal with. The last thing he needs is to deal with a difficult client. Unfortunately, by the time a lawyer decides to drop a client because they are unmanageable, it’s usually too late to change their mind. The best thing you can do is ask for a referral to another lawyer.

If it’s your lawyer who has a personality problem, and you feel like it’s is seriously affecting your case negatively, contact the State Bar Ethics Review Board or the local Bar Association and discuss the situation with them. In the meantime, you should consider getting yourself another lawyer.

Conflict of Interest Problems

Unfortunately, if your lawyer drops your case because of a conflict of interest, you may be out of luck. The best you can do is get a referral to another lawyer.

Hiring an Effective Attorney

Some lawyers do not drop a client because of genuine reasons; some of them are unskilled, unethical and only interested in billing and not helping you. Sometimes a lawyer might decide to drop your case because he thinks it’s a lousy one.

Find out reasons why lawyers aren’t taking your case.

At Kevin P Landry, we understand the physical and emotional toll of an accident. Not only do you feel helpless after an accident but you also feel desperate. So if a lawyer drops your case even before it is concluded, you can’t help but feel abandoned.

We, however, handle our clients differently. During your free initial consultation with us, we will discuss:

  1. Your side of the story or the events leading up to the accident
  2. Whether there are any holes in your case that require us to do further investigation
  3. If you really require representation. For instance, you don’t need to hire a lawyer if you are just trying to recover $3000 to fix your car.
  4. If we are the right people to handle your case. We don’t typically handle all areas of personal injury. If we find we are not the right fit for you, we will refer you to another lawyer who specializes in cases similar to yours. Click to see our full list of practice areas.

With over 18 offices in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, scheduling your first meeting with us is very easy. Simply call us at 800-200-7752 to schedule your free initial consultation and to learn how we can help you.