Self serving lawyer?

[FrankUpton]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY
I hired a lawyer to represent me in a wage dispute and could be a lot of money in a settlement.
The lawyer said i would be able to read over all papers before submitting to the court.
She did not keep her word, and i found out a week later that the lawyer filed the papers with the court.
They also embellished and falsified details. I don't want to work with this lawyer.
Don't know what to do because I don't want to mess up my lawsuit. What to do?

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY
I hired a lawyer to represent me in a wage dispute and could be a lot of money in a settlement.
The lawyer said i would be able to read over all papers before submitting to the court.
She did not keep her word, and i found out a week later that the lawyer filed the papers with the court.
They also embellished and falsified details. I don't want to work with this lawyer.
Don't know what to do because I don't want to mess up my lawsuit. What to do?

You can inform your current attorney that you no longer want the attorney to represent you (e.g, "You're fired"). Hire another attorney and the other attorney can see that a substitution of attorney in filed with the court and your new attorney will see that all of the documents currently held by your first attorney are turned over to him/her so your case can proceed.

Please note that you may have incurred some charges with the first attorney that will need to be taken care of - ask the first attorney for a final billing and pay what is owed.

Good luck.

 

[FrankUpton]

That sounds pretty easy. Only i don't have a new lawyer. And I don't wnat the existing one to do
anything else for me. She was working on contingency and I was told no fee to lawyer unless i win.
If i fire her, the bill might be super high.

 

[quincy]

That sounds pretty easy. Only i don't have a new lawyer. And I don't wnat the existing one to do
anything else for me. She was working on contingency and I was told no fee to lawyer unless i win.
If i fire her, the bill might be super high.

First, you should read over carefully the contract you signed with your first attorney (it might have a termination clause) - and you should try to work out any disagreement with your first attorney prior to terminating the attorney/client relationship, if this is at all possible.

If, however, you do not want this attorney to do anything else for you, you will have to notify the attorney of this. You should notify the attorney in writing that you wish to terminate her services (and why), and you should request a final billing. If you have hired a new attorney, inform the old attorney of your new attorney's contact information.

It is often smartest and definitely easiest to hire a new attorney before firing your old attorney. That way your case can continue with little interruption.

You or your new attorney will need to notify the court that you are terminating the services of the first attorney. Your new attorney can handle the court notification and make the request of your first attorney for all case files. Your old attorney will file with the court a motion to withdraw and your new attorney will file with the court a substitution of attorney.

Until all fees are paid to your first attorney, your case files might be held. If you hired your first attorney with no retainer fee, however, your first attorney will probably be entitled to a percentage of whatever is awarded you in court (should you win the case). That means you could be paying two attorneys. Again, reading over your contract is important.

Here is a link to the New York Bar Rules of Professional Conduct that you might find informative:
http://www.nycourts.gov/rules/jointappellate/ny-rules-prof-conduct-1200.pdf

 

[JustinMarsh]

You can just ask your attorney that you don't him/her anymore and then you can hire new lawyers and your new attorney will see that all of the documents currently held by your first attorney are turned over to him/her so your case can proceed.

 

[quincy]

You can just ask your attorney that you don't him/her anymore and then you can hire new lawyers and your new attorney will see that all of the documents currently held by your first attorney are turned over to him/her so your case can proceed.

JustinMarsh, this thread is from November of last year and Frank has not been back to the forum since that time.

It is best on this forum not to revive older threads to add comments or questions (or to repeat what has previously been said ). The threads are left open for use by the original poster in case the original poster has additional questions.

Please read the posting dates before replying. Thanks.