How do I fire my attorney that is being paid on a contingency basis?
Wednesday, December 1st, 2010 at
1:23 am
I feel that I prematurely hired legal representation. I am not willing to sue and have received some payment for my legal claim, of which I have paid my attorney $30,000+. I can manage buy drugs on line the process on my own. How do I/ can I fire my attorney?
It depends on the terms of your contract.
Read your fee agreement/contract. That is the ONLY answer to this question. I have seen some clever and very legal contingency fee agreements. Many times, you cannot simply fire the attorney. Well, you can, but you will still owe 33.3% (or however much you agreed to) of any settlement to the attorney. If it isn’t worded that way, you can very possible be held in breach and sued for the “at-cost” of the legal fees. Meaning, the attorney can hand you a bill when you walk out the door for his/her legal work at their normal hourly rate.
The best thing is to sit down and read the consequences of breaking the agreement or arrange a sit down and discuss your need for an attorney with the attorney.