Lawyer Referral/Do I need a lawyer?

When someone’s lawyer is not fulfilling their obligation as a “zealous advocate” for their client, there are a couple of possible ways to handle it. One, is to file a grievance with the Bar Association. However, that would not give the client immediate relief since that can take a while to go through the proper channels and then to have the matter be mediated or otherwise resolved. Another option is to fire the attorney and try to get another attorney to take over the case. If you want to go that route, you can look on our Finding a Lawyer [HYPERLINK] page for legal referrals and we have some questions that can be helpful to ask an attorney when interviewing them. However, trying to get a new lawyer comes with its own challenges because often attorneys are hesitant to jump into the middle of a case if significant litigation has already taken place. In addition, some attorneys won’t even give a consultation on a case that is currently being represented by another attorney until that attorney is fired. Also, depending on the judge, it’s unclear how much time they’d give a litigant to postpone the case if they fire their lawyer and need time to get a new one. If you are thinking of changing lawyers, you may want to try to see whether you can get a consultation from a few lawyers before firing your lawyer and ask them those interview questions to get a feel for how they might be. Another option would be to ask your lawyer for a meeting to go over all of your concerns and to try to work together towards a solution. We have some tips about how to work with your lawyer in case that’s helpful.