My Lawyer Is Not Working on My Case: Signs and What to Do

Quiet periods that are normal

Injury cases move in stages, and some stages look like nothing is happening. While you are still treating, the firm usually waits to see how your recovery goes before valuing the claim. Pulling medical records and bills from every provider can take a couple of months on its own. After a demand letter goes out, insurers often take 30 days or more to answer.

Once a lawsuit is filed, there are long waits too. The defense gets time to respond. Discovery runs on deadlines measured in weeks. Trial dates are often set a year or more out.

So a quiet month does not prove your lawyer has stopped working. What you want to know is whether the case has moved since the last time you checked, and whether your lawyer can tell you what the next step is and roughly when it will happen.

Signs your case has stalled

These are the warning signs we hear about most often from people who call us for a second opinion. One of them on its own may have an innocent explanation. Several together usually mean the file is sitting.

• You finished treatment months ago and no demand has gone to the insurance company.
• Nobody has asked you for medical bills, wage records or photos since the first meeting.
• The filing deadline is getting close and nobody can tell you whether a lawsuit will be filed.
• You got a letter from the insurer or the court that your lawyer never mentioned.
• You were scheduled for a deposition or a defense medical exam with no preparation call.
• Your lawyer cannot say what the last thing done on your case was.
• The case has been handed to a new person several times, and each one starts over.
• Written questions from the defense were due and you never helped answer them.

How to check on your case yourself

Start with a short email to your lawyer asking for a written status report. Ask four things: what has been done in the last 90 days, whether a demand or lawsuit has been sent or filed, whether any offer has been made, and what happens next. Give a deadline of about a week. A firm that is working the case can answer those questions quickly.

If a lawsuit was filed, you can often look it up yourself. Most county courts in California, Texas and Washington have an online case search. The docket shows filings, hearing dates and the trial date. If nothing has been filed for many months, ask why.

You can also ask for a copy of the demand letter and any written offers. In California, lawyers must promptly tell clients about every written settlement offer under rule 1.4.1. Texas Rule 1.03 and Washington RPC 1.4 require lawyers to keep you reasonably informed and to answer reasonable requests for information.

Our page on what to do when your lawyer won’t call back has a sample message you can adapt.

What inaction can cost you

The biggest risk is a missed filing deadline. In California most injury claims must be filed within two years under Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1. Texas also allows two years under Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003. Washington allows three years under RCW 4.16.080(2). Claims against government agencies have much shorter notice periods in each state.

Other losses are quieter. Surveillance video from a store or intersection is often recorded over within weeks. Witnesses move and their memories fade. A vehicle may be repaired or scrapped before anyone inspects it. In a lawsuit, missed discovery deadlines can lead to court orders against your side.

A new lawyer can sometimes recover lost ground and sometimes cannot. That is why waiting six more months to see if things improve is rarely a good plan when the warning signs are already there.

Switching in California, Texas and Washington

In all three states you can end the relationship whenever you choose. What changes from state to state is how the old lawyer gets paid and what paperwork the court needs.

California

Under Fracasse v. Brent, you can discharge your lawyer with or without cause. A discharged contingency lawyer is limited to the reasonable value of the work done, and only if you recover. If a lawsuit is on file, the change is made by a signed substitution or a court order under Code of Civil Procedure § 284.

Texas

In Texas the reason matters. Rocha v. Ahmad treated delays, poor communication and months of inaction as good cause, which limits the old lawyer to the reasonable value of the work done. A lawyer fired without good cause can claim the contract fee under Mandell & Wright v. Thomas, subject to the limits in Hoover Slovacek v. Walton. Keep a written record of the inaction. Our Texas cases are handled by our Texas-licensed attorneys, Joyce Ondich and John Efstathiou.

Washington

Under Ross v. Scannell, a contingency lawyer discharged before finishing the work generally gets the reasonable value of services, not the contract percentage. If suit is filed, the new lawyer files a notice of withdrawal and substitution under Civil Rule 71(d).

What a new firm does first

When a stalled case comes to Beverly Law, the first job is catching up. We get the complete file from the old firm, confirm every deadline, and check whether any records, bills or evidence were never collected. If a lawsuit is on file, we review the docket for missed dates and pending motions. Then you get a clear plan for the next 30 to 60 days, in writing.

The money side stays simple for you. Moving your case to us does not raise your fee. Any fee your former lawyer is owed for real work on the file comes out of our fee, not on top of it. Costs the old firm advanced, such as filing fees or records charges, are usually repaid from the recovery like costs on any case. We charge no fees or costs unless we win.

We cannot take a case once a settlement release has been signed, because the release generally ends the claim. If you are still deciding, read the full guide to switching lawyers or contact us for a free review in English or Spanish.

Sources

1. California Rules of Professional Conduct (State Bar of California, PDF)
2. Tex. Disciplinary R. Prof. Conduct 1.03 (communication)
3. Wash. RPC 1.4
4. Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1
5. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003
6. RCW 4.16.080
7. Fracasse v. Brent (1972) 6 Cal.3d 784 (scocal.stanford.edu)
8. Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 284
9. Rocha v. Ahmad, 676 S.W.2d 149 (Tex. App. San Antonio 1984) (CourtListener)
10. Mandell & Wright v. Thomas, 441 S.W.2d 841 (Tex. 1969) (CourtListener)
11. Hoover Slovacek LLP v. Walton, 206 S.W.3d 557 (Tex. 2006) (CourtListener)
12. Ross v. Scannell, 97 Wn.2d 598 (1982) (CourtListener)
13. Wash. Superior Court Civil Rule 71