My lawyer wants to leave my case after 3 years; Can I stop him?

Question

We are in negotiation with my auto insurance company suing under the under insured clause, since I was not made whole and now after only 2 weeks notice my attorney wants to leave the case stating that he cannot keep the case due to financial hardship. The attorney has received monies already in the past and was going to receive money from this settlement.

Isn't it harder to find an attorney so late in the case to take on this situation? The present attorney suggest we take on the case our self or he can suggest a few other colleagues. I feel our attorney who is practicing on his own is looking for employment at another firm and will not or take our case with him. What are we to do? What are the pros and cons and should we take on negotiations ourselves with the insurance company? Someone mentioned I could block the attorneys license until the case is settled. Is this true? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

There are ethical rules, at least in my state and I presume in most states, regarding when an attorney can withdraw from a case.  The case causing undue financial hardship is a legitimate reason to withdraw, at least in my state, as are other reasons which I don't know factually whether they apply or not.  Even if the attorney has good cause to withdraw, he is supposed to do everything possible to prevent prejudicing your interests, and if it will prejudice you too much the court handling your case can refuse to allow him to withdraw. No, you can't "block" an attorney's license, at least not in my state, although you can file a complaint with the State Bar.  It will then be up to the State Bar to investigate your complaint and determine if the attorney should be disciplined.