What costs are involved in changing attorneys?
If you wish to replace your attorney, the attorney will have a right to place a lien on your case for the reasonable value of the services rendered on your behalf. If your case is on a contingency fee, the lien of the first attorney will not exceed the percentage of the fee to be collected by the new attorney if the case can successfully be resolved. For example, if your case is being handled on a 33% contingency fee, then both the first and second attorneys would collect their fees from 33% of any settlement or judgment. Where a new attorney is retained on an hourly basis, the client should expect to incur fees related to the new attorney having to review the file materials in order to get up to speed. The amount of time the attorney will devote to getting familiar with the case would be directly related to the age and complexity of the case. The client should discuss with any potential new attorney the amount of time and effort the attorney anticipates will be necessary in order to b
