You hired a personal injury lawyer after being seriously injured in a car accident. At first, the law firm seemed responsive and confident about your case. They told you they would investigate the crash, gather your medical records, and negotiate with the insurance company on your behalf. But as the months pass, you begin to notice several troubling issues.
For example, your calls and emails often go unanswered for days. When you do reach someone, it’s usually a staff member who says the attorney is “in court” or “busy” and will get back to you, but the follow-up rarely happens. You also learn that important steps have been delayed: your personal injury lawyer hasn’t sent a demand letter to the insurance company even though your medical treatment has largely finished.
At this point, you begin to wonder whether your attorney is giving your case the attention it needs. The lack of communication and missed opportunities to gather evidence make you question whether keeping the same lawyer is in your best interest. But you still wonder, “Can I fire my accident attorney?”
Yes, you can. Texas law gives you the right to end the attorney-client relationship at any time, without providing a reason. But exercising that right comes with consequences you should anticipate. In this article, we’ll go over what they are and how you can find the right replacement lawyer.
When Changing Personal Injury Attorneys Makes Sense
Not every frustration with a personal injury attorney justifies switching representation. Insurance companies routinely stall, and personal injury cases can seemingly drag on for months while medical appointments continue or both sides exchange information through discovery. Some of what feels like inaction is normal case development. That said, there are legitimate reasons to find new representation. They include:
- Your calls and emails go unanswered. Communication is a basic obligation. If your attorney or their staff won’t return your messages within a reasonable time, that’s a problem. You should know what’s happening in your case and what comes next.
- You’ve never met the attorney handling your case file. Some large firms sign clients up and pass their cases to less experienced staff. If the attorney whose name is on the door has never spoken with you directly, you may not be getting the representation you hired.
- Your attorney is pushing you to accept a settlement you believe is too low. If your attorney is applying pressure rather than giving you a balanced assessment of the offer and the risk of rejecting it, that’s a red flag.
- You’ve lost confidence in the legal strategy. If your attorney can’t clearly explain their approach, why they’re taking certain positions, or how they plan to handle the insurer’s arguments, pay attention to that.
- Your attorney has a conflict of interest. If you discover your attorney has a relationship with the opposing party, the insurance company, or any other party in your case, get new legal representation immediately.
What Happens to Your Contingency Fee Agreement?
This is where things can get financially consequential. Most personal injury attorneys in Texas work on a contingency fee basis. You don’t pay upfront: the attorney takes a percentage of your recovery when the case resolves. When you fire that attorney before the case ends, the fee arrangement doesn’t disappear.
Under Texas law, an attorney you’ve discharged may assert what’s called an attorney lien against your eventual recovery. This means that even after you’ve brought in new counsel, your former attorney may have a legal claim to some portion of what you receive. The amount depends on the legal agreement you signed and the work the attorney performed on your behalf before termination.
Texas courts typically calculate the discharged attorney’s compensation on a quantum meruit basis, or the reasonable value of legal services rendered up to the point of discharge. In some cases, the original fee agreement governs instead. If the former attorney spent a lot of time on your case, compiled the evidence, sent a demand letter, or filed suit before you parted ways, the lien can be significant.
This doesn’t mean you should stay with an attorney who isn’t serving your interests. It means you should go into the transition with eyes open. Read your retainer agreement carefully before you act, and ask your new attorney to review it once you’ve retained them.
How to Fire Your Attorney
Termination is straightforward. You send a written notice via email or certified mail, stating that you’re ending the representation effective immediately. You don’t owe them a long explanation: a direct, unambiguous statement is all that’s necessary.
Once you’ve sent notice, request your complete case file in writing. Your file belongs to you, and your attorney is obligated to return it promptly. It should include all correspondence, medical records, accident reports, photographs, demand letters, insurance communications, any court documents that have been filed, and notes or summaries from witness interviews or investigations. Be sure to get everything, as your new attorney will need the full record to pick up the case without losing ground.
If your former attorney delays in sending you the materials, your new one can send them a formal demand. Under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, attorneys are required to turn over the client’s file upon request, and most comply promptly to avoid a grievance.
One practical note: if your former attorney has paid case expenses on your behalf, such as filing fees, medical record retrieval costs, or consultation fees, those expenditures may be addressed separately in the fee lien. Confirm what has been spent and what will be claimed before you close the chapter.
What If Your Attorney Withdraws First?
The firing question cuts both ways. Personal injury attorneys can also withdraw from a case, and when that happens, you need to move just as quickly as you would if you’d initiated the split.
- An attorney can withdraw for several reasons, which include:
- A breakdown in communication
- A client who won’t follow legal advice
- Non-payment of costs in a hybrid fee arrangement
- A conflict that emerges mid-case
If your attorney withdraws, your right to your case file doesn’t change. Request it immediately in writing. Don’t assume the withdrawal was handled cleanly: confirm the status of every pending deadline, every court date, and every outstanding communication with the insurer or opposing counsel. A withdrawal that catches you off guard is more disruptive than one you initiate, because you’ve lost the ability to plan the transition on your own terms.
If your personal injury attorney has withdrawn and you believe it was handled improperly (e.g., without adequate notice, at a damaging point in the case, or without returning your file), you have recourse through the State Bar of Texas. That complaint process won’t improve your accident case directly, but it creates a record and holds attorneys accountable for obligations they didn’t meet.
Timing and the Statute of Limitations
When you switch attorneys, the timing can impact how much risk you’re taking on. Texas gives personal injury plaintiffs two years from the date of their accident to file a lawsuit. If you terminate your attorney close to that deadline and take longer than expected to find new legal counsel, your right to file could be at risk.
Before firing your current attorney, confirm exactly where your case stands with respect to that two-year window. If a lawsuit has been filed, identify every approaching deadline in the litigation timeline. Discovery cutoffs, deposition schedules, and deadlines set by court order don’t pause because you changed attorneys. Your new lawyer will need time to review everything, and if a hearing or filing deadline is approaching, that transition window shrinks fast.
What to Do If Your Case Is Close to Settlement
If your attorney has exchanged demand letters with the insurer and a settlement number is on the table, it definitely changes things. Switching attorneys at that stage resets the relationship with the insurance adjuster, may signal instability to the other side, and gives the insurer an excuse to slow-walk negotiations while your new attorney gets up to speed.
That doesn’t mean you’re stuck. If you believe your attorney is pushing you toward an inadequate settlement and you have time before any acceptance deadline, consult a second attorney before terminating the first. Many personal injury attorneys will review an existing offer and give you an honest assessment of how it compares to the value of your claim.
What to Look for in a Replacement Attorney
When you’re evaluating someone to take over your case, the most important question is this: Will they take the case to trial if the insurer won’t offer a fair settlement?
Insurance companies track personal injury lawyers in their area. Adjusters and insurance defense attorneys know which plaintiffs’ attorneys settle every case and which ones go to verdict. That reputation can impact the offers insurers put on the table from day one: when your file lands at an insurer’s desk, chances are that your new attorney’s history is already part of the negotiation.
- Here’s what you should ask potential replacement attorneys:
- How many personal injury cases have you taken to verdict?
- How have you handled situations where an insurer refused to negotiate in good faith?
- What portion of your practice is personal injury?
- How will you keep me informed?
- Who returns your calls: an attorney or a case manager?
- What does a normal update cycle look like?
You switched attorneys partly because their communication failed you. Confirm it won’t fail you again.
What Texas Law Guns Does Differently
At Texas Law Guns, Injury and Accident Lawyers, personal injury is all we do. We don’t sign clients up and hand their cases to junior lawyers who have never tried a case. The attorney assigned to your file will listen to your questions and concerns, return your calls in a reasonable time frame, and explain every decision in plain language that you can understand.
We routinely take cases that other firms have mishandled. If you’re dissatisfied with how your current attorney has managed your accident claim, we’ll review it for you, assess what’s been done, identify what still needs doing, and give you an honest picture of where things stand. There’s no fee for that conversation and no obligation to retain us.
We work on a contingency fee basis, so you pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you. We don’t settle cases because it’s convenient. We settle them when the number is fair, and when the insurer won’t get there, we go to trial.
Get a Free Consultation From a Top-Rated Texas Personal Injury Lawyer
Firing a lawyer who’s not serving you well is your right, and in the appropriate circumstances, it’s the right call. Persistent communication failures, pressure to accept inadequate offers, a loss of confidence in the direction of your case, and conflicts of interest all justify switching to an experienced attorney who will serve you better.
If you’re dissatisfied with how your personal injury claim is being handled, call Texas Law Guns, Injury and Accident Lawyers at (844) LAW-GUNS to schedule a confidential consultation. We’ll tell you where your case stands and what we’d do differently.
Alexander Begum has tried over 50 trials to verdict and tried or settled over $500 million in cases. Alex is a founding shareholder of the Texas Law Gun, Injury and Accident Lawyers.