Can I Fire My Personal Injury Lawyer?

In Maryland and in most jurisdictions across the country, clients have the right to fire their personal injury lawyer at any point, particularly when they are operating under a contingency fee agreement. The logistics of doing so are simple. A written letter informing your attorney that their services are no longer needed is sufficient to sever the relationship. This letter should be professional, direct, and should request that your file be forwarded either to you or to your new attorney.

The more difficult question is not whether you can fire your lawyer, but whether you should. Terminating an attorney-client relationship midstream is not a decision to be made lightly, especially in the context of an injury case where the facts, medical records, and strategy are often already in motion. The stakes are high, and so is the potential for missteps if the process is not handled carefully.

Reasons Clients Fire Their Injury Lawyers

While there are countless individual reasons a client might consider firing their lawyer, two common complaints dominate in the personal injury space: a lack of communication and dissatisfaction with the pace of the case.

Communication, or the absence of it, is perhaps the number one source of client frustration. Many personal injury firms are high-volume operations, and clients sometimes feel like their case is just another file in a cabinet.  This is often made worse by the full court press victims get before they sign a contingency fee agreement.  So when calls go unreturned and updates are sparse, trust begins to erode. And trust, once lost, is hard to restore.

The second reason is timing. Personal injury clients often come into the process expecting quick resolutions. When the months start piling up without meaningful movement, it’s natural for clients to start pointing fingers. Sometimes, that frustration is fair. At other times, it reflects a misunderstanding of how slowly civil litigation can progress. Delays in receiving medical records, insurance company stalling, and the scheduling of depositions or court hearings can all slow progress, often through no fault of the attorney. Still, when the perception is that a lawyer is not pressing the case forward, the dissatisfaction can reach a breaking point.

What You Should Do Before Firing Your Lawyer

Before making any final decision, you want to make sure it is not the situation you are mad at, instead of the lawyer.  Resolve your concerns directly. Set up a meeting with your lawyer. Be candid about your frustrations. Ask direct questions about the status of your case, the expected timeline, and what steps are being taken to move things forward. This conversation alone can be revealing. Sometimes the lawyer simply has not realized how out of the loop the client feels. Maybe you are demanding more than is realistic. But in other cases, the answers (or lack thereof) confirm that a change is needed.

One productive way to approach this meeting is to write down a list of concerns in advance. This allows you to clearly articulate what is bothering you and ensures that you leave the meeting with specific answers. If your lawyer is responsive, attentive, and provides a clear plan of action, you may find that the relationship is salvageable. If, however, you feel stonewalled or dismissed, then it is probably time to find new representation.

Firing Your Lawyer: The Mechanics

Once you’ve made the decision to terminate the relationship, the next step is to do it cleanly. Send a letter to your current attorney notifying them that you are ending the attorney-client relationship. This letter should be courteous but firm. Request a complete copy of your file, including all pleadings, correspondence, and medical records. If you have already retained new counsel, you can instruct your prior attorney to forward the file directly to them.

It is also advisable to confirm in writing that your prior lawyer should not take any further action on your behalf. This helps avoid confusion about representation and ensures that your new lawyer has a clean slate to work from.

Will It Cost More to Switch Lawyers?

This is a common fear for clients considering a change. The good news is that, in almost all personal injury cases, the answer is no. These cases are typically handled on a contingency fee basis, meaning the attorney is only paid a percentage of any recovery.

Under Maryland law, if a lawyer is fired without cause, they may be entitled to compensation for the reasonable value of their services under a theory called “quantum meruit.” But in practice, this does not result in double fees for the client. Instead, the original attorney and the new attorney usually work out a fee split from the same contingency fee that the client originally agreed to. Clients are not asked to pay two lawyers.

That said, this arrangement should be clarified upfront with your new lawyer. A good attorney will be transparent about the financial implications and will handle any necessary negotiations with the former attorney. In our combined decades of experience, we have never seen a client end up paying more in attorney’s fees simply because they switched lawyers. It just doesn’t happen.

Why Clients Switch Personal Injury Lawyers

When Is Firing Your Lawyer Justified?

There are good reasons and bad reasons to fire a lawyer. Impatience alone is often not enough. Litigation, especially in complex injury cases, takes time. But lack of trust is a different story. If you no longer believe your lawyer is acting in your best interest, if you feel they are neglecting your case, or if you suspect they lack the competence or commitment to achieve a good outcome, then it may be time to move on.

Another legitimate reason is poor strategy or vision. If your lawyer consistently fails to explain the rationale behind decisions or seems unwilling to adjust course in response to new developments, that can be a red flag. Similarly, if your lawyer is unprepared for key events like depositions or hearings, it may signal deeper issues in their case management.

But perhaps the most telling indicator is how your lawyer reacts when you raise concerns. If they are dismissive, defensive, or uninterested in your perspective, the relationship may be broken beyond repair.

Transitioning Smoothly to a New Lawyer

If you decide to make a change, the key is to keep the transition smooth and professional. Retain new counsel first before firing your current attorney. This avoids any gap in representation and ensures your case does not stall.

Your new lawyer should take charge of contacting the prior attorney, securing your file, and resolving any outstanding fee arrangements. This process should happen quickly and with minimal involvement from you.

You should also take this opportunity to reset your expectations. A new lawyer can bring fresh energy and strategy to your case, but they are not magicians. Make sure to communicate clearly from the outset what you want and need. Ask how often you’ll receive updates and how the lawyer prefers to communicate. A healthy attorney-client relationship depends on transparency and trust from both sides.

The Bottom Line

Switching lawyers is not a decision to take lightly, but it is your right as a client. If your concerns are serious and cannot be resolved through honest conversation, then firing your lawyer may be the right move. Just be sure to do it with care. Terminate the relationship formally, secure your case file, and work with your new attorney to ensure a seamless transition.

At the heart of every successful personal injury case is a strong, communicative attorney-client relationship. If that foundation is cracked, the case suffers. But with the right steps, you can find the representation you deserve and keep your case on track without added cost or complication.

Will Our Lawyers Take Your Case?

We are open to the idea of taking on a case involving someone who is looking to switch representation. That said, we probably have not agreed to take over a case from another lawyer in the last five years.  But that is internal to us and our desire to focus on maximizing the settlement amount or jury award our client sees as opposed to fighting with another lawyer over how to split a contingency fee, which is always an ordeal.  It certainly does not mean you should not switch lawyers if you believe it is necessary.