Can an accident lawyer drop your case?
When a personal injury lawyer accepts your case, they are committing to advocate on your behalf and help guide you through the complex legal process to get justice and fair compensation. However, this process is sometimes not as straightforward and smooth as either you or your attorney may hope for.
Even highly devoted lawyers may encounter scenarios where it becomes necessary to withdraw from representing a case. While this choice is hardly ever made lightly or commonly, it remains a possibility. Understanding why a personal injury lawyer may drop your case only serves to benefit you as a client, knowing your legal options.
Common Reasons a Personal Injury Lawyer May Drop Your Case
Here is a list of the most common reasons why a personal injury lawyer may feel the need to withdraw from representing your case:
Not their expertise: If your case is outside of your lawyer’s wheelhouse, they may need to drop your case. For example, if your case concerns a complex medical practice issue while your lawyer specializes mainly in car accident injuries, then your lawyer is a bad fit for your case. This doesn’t necessarily mean your lawyer is incompetent, just that every practice area requires special insight and experience into the relevant laws for each case.
Insufficient Evidence: Without proper evidence, even the best lawyers face an uphill battle when it comes to convincing the jury about your case. A common scenario is when there is a car accident with disputed liability, otherwise known as “he said, she said” accidents. If you’re unable to establish the other driver’s fault due to not having enough evidence, your case is hampered significantly and will need to rely on evaluating both drivers’ credibility, which are often equal in such accidents anyways.
Conflict of Interest: If your lawyer is approached by the other driver from your car accident, choosing to represent both parties is clearly a direct conflict of interest, regardless of how passionate and skilled they are. Dual representation in situations like that is highly unethical by nature, thus it can become necessary for your lawyer not only to step away from representing one party, but both parties entirely so that the judicial process can remain fair.
Disagreement about strategy: Some injured parties may want to sue a judgment proof individual against the advice of their lawyer who recognizes that pursuing litigation would cause undue financial stress without any realistic ability to obtain proper compensation.This is merely one example of how, if a client insists on a counter-intuitive course of action, the attorney may decide it is not in the best interest of both themselves and their client to continue representing their case.
Pressure for unattainable results: Certain cases may be highly difficult to obtain the results desired by the client, such as if the injury is very similar to that of a pre-existing condition, which complicates the process of proving that the accident caused the injury. Lawyers can only work with the evidence available, and as such, the likelihood of proving your case if the evidence suggests otherwise may cause the lawyer to withdraw their representation and no longer proceed with your case.
Approaching the Statute of Limitations: Personal injury cases have statutes of limitations which limit the amount of time you have to file a lawsuit. Lawyers are limited in their ability to speed up the legal process, and mainly are only able to ensure that their work is thorough to build a powerful case on your behalf. Without the proper time to do so, a lawyer may be unable to take your case in good faith that they can obtain the outcome you desire. This is why it is important to seek counsel immediately if your legal issues are approaching their statute of limitations; don’t wait to Win and obtain your rightful compensation!
Ethical Considerations: If your lawyer has a past relationship with someone on the other side, no matter how casual or harmless, the ethics they agreed to uphold when first entering their State Bar Association must take priority. As such, in order for you to receive the best counsel possible, they may need to step away
Breakdown in Attorney-Client Relationship: If you and your lawyer are unable to maintain proper trust and communication between each other, they may find it best to withdraw from representing your case for both your sakes, as the fight for your rights is neither short nor easy and requires a high degree of trust.
Lack of Resources: Your lawyer’s resources that are required to tackle a case, such as legal expertise and research, investigative support, solid financial foundations, and time, may be stretched thin as your case or their other cases drag on. The ethics your lawyer is duty-bound to uphold may necessitate that they allow you to seek other counsel, so that every client can obtain the representation they deserve.
Financial Unviability: If your case doesn’t stand to at least cover the cost of going to trial, then your lawyer may want to step away from your case out of the concern that retaining their services and engaging in litigation could place undue financial strain on you, especially during a vulnerable period where you deserve to focus on recovering from your injury.
Non-Cooperation: If you are unable to fully participate in your legal process to help your lawyer build your case, then your lawyer may find it best to withdraw. One major example is following through with medical treatments: Your lawyer is aiming to present a complete and accurate model of your financial losses you incurred from your injury, which can be highly difficult if your insurance company and the jury begin to question your commitment to recovery.
Excessive Communication: If you are contacting your lawyer too often in short periods of time, you may end up achieving the opposite of demonstrating that you are committed and highly invested in ensuring your legal team’s success. It is best to trust your lawyer as an expert who knows how to navigate the often slow legal process and has your best interests in mind.
Client Deception: If you withhold vital information or make up important details, you are breaching the trust that is essential to your attorney being able to fight effectively for you. As you invest time, money, and faith into their expertise and integrity, they too are investing in your case and the truth to help prove that you deserve to win your fight for recovering compensation.
What is the Processing of Withdrawing from a Personal Injury Case?
The process is different depending on whether your lawyer drops your case before you formally filed your lawsuit in court, or after you filed it.
Pre-lawsuit filing: The process of withdrawing representation can be rather simple. Your lawyer will likely inform you, the client, of their decision and ask you for consent to dissolve the attorney-client professional relationship. Your lawyer, as mandated by the State Bar Association, must clearly convey their reasons for withdrawing and advise you steps to move forward with your case, such as seeking other counsel.
Post-lawsuit filing: The process for withdrawal is more complex as a court’s approval will be needed. Your attorney must file a motion to withdraw which will outline their reasons for needing to withdraw from your case without diving into privileged information. The court will ensure your rights are protected as they consider the motion to withdraw. The timing of the motion as well as the withdrawal’s potential effects on your case will be highly important in the court’s decision to grant or deny the motion.
What should I do if my injury lawyer drops my case?
While it may be unexpected and daunting, your journey to obtaining proper justice does not need to end here. If your attorney drops your case, here’s what you should do:
Ask Why: By asking why, you may get a clearer picture of their withdrawal as well as whether your case is still worth pursuing. Additionally, if you seek other lawyers, they will likely ask you before agreeing to help with your case.
Ask for a Copy of your File: If you are able to obtain a copy of your file from your withdrawing lawyer, and you are proactively keeping records and timelines about your case, you will be able to catch any new lawyers up to speed on your case and avoid wasting the effort that you and your previous lawyer invested.
Find a New Lawyer: Look for a new attorney that has experience and an established good history of handling cases similar to yours, and would be willing to advocate on your behalf with full dedication to your recovery. Reviews and testimonials may prove vital in this step.
When it comes to picking a lawyer, it pays to be careful and pick one best suited to your unique case. Choosing a bad match for your legal representation can waste vital financial resources and time for your case. Ultimately, it is best to choose an experienced attorney with a well-equipped support team that will know your case inside-out.
