With the recent news of Cellino suing Barnes to dissolve their injury attorney firm, people with accident cases in Nassau and Suffolk County on Long Island may have questions about changing lawyers. Although I am not encouraging people to change attorneys, they should be aware of what their options and rights are.
In New York, regardless of what retainer you signed with an attorney, you are free to change attorneys at any time and for any reason. Changing lawyers will have no effect on your share of the settlement proceeds, and will not harm or delay your case.
The process is easy and can be accomplished quickly. You would simply sign Change of Attorney forms which your new lawyer would send to your former lawyer. The new lawyer would reimburse your former lawyer for any expenses which were incurred to that point, and have your file transferred to your new lawyer’s office. The lawyers would agree upon what part of the legal fee each lawyer would be entitled to typically after the case settles. Again, the division of legal fees will in no way affect your share of the settlement or cause any delay in you receiving your settlement proceeds.
There are many reasons why people decide to change injury attorneys. Often they hired their lawyer quickly, soon after an accident, without really researching who they were hiring. Many times the communication breaks down, and the lawyer doesn’t return phone calls, or the person only gets to speak to a secretary. More often than not, they are not kept up to date on the status of their case so they feel like they don’t know what is going on. It could also be that the lawyer is simply not pushing their case quickly enough through the court system.
If any of this sounds familiar, you may want to call me for a no pressure, friendly and honest opinion. I will even look up your case on the court computer and tell you exactly what is happening(ornot happening) on your case.
Remember, you only have one chance to get the results that you truly deserve, so you need to have confidence in the lawyer handling your case.
Take a look at my reviews and results and call me today at 631-495-9435 so that I can answer all of your questions.
