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Personal Injury Lawyer
Your lawyer is perhaps the most important player of your criminal justice case. You want someone who will put your best interests first, ensuring everything plays out fair and to your favor as much as possible. When something happens and you lose faith and confidence in your lawyer, you may consider firing him or her and hiring someone new. Is that the best thing to do? Is it legal?
Speaking with the Lawyer First
Some issues can be dealt with firsthand without you having to fire or re-hire anyone. Speak with your lawyer about what you’re concerned about. Maybe he or she feels the course being taken is the right one, but you simply don’t understand. Maybe he or she didn’t understand something about your case. There’s a chance you can get the issue resolved, so that’s probably the first thing you’ll want to try to do.
Firing Your Lawyer
If you do choose to fire your lawyer, it won’t come without consequence. For example, the lawyer you fire should still be paid the agreed-upon price. It may state in your contract the terms included when firing the lawyer. Perhaps a contingency fee will be changed to an hourly fee. Perhaps you’ll have to pay for certain court costs the lawyer paid on your behalf. As you can see, this could get costly, so you’ll want to really be sure this is the best for your situation before doing it.
Hiring a New Lawyer
While firing your lawyer and hiring someone new might come with a lot of benefits, there are some other things to consider when hiring a new lawyer. For example, you’ll have to work to get your new lawyer up to speed on the case. This could take some time, as the lawyer may want to work the case from the very beginning and will need time to do that. You’ll also need to pay the new lawyer, which would be a whole new set of lawyer fees in addition to your old lawyer’s cost.
Court-Appointed Lawyers
If you have been given a court-appointed lawyer, it can be more difficult to change lawyers in the middle of your case. You’d have to have a very compelling reason with evidence to show the lawyer is not acting in your best interest. If the judge doesn’t feel the reason is good enough, you may not be able to switch to a new court-appointed lawyer.
Getting Started
One of the best things you can do is retain a good lawyer from the start. Contact a lawyer, like a criminal defense lawyer from Rispoli & Borneo, P.C., today to learn more.
