Do I have to pay a lawyer who quit?

[rwebber]

:roll:

Hi, I live in NY.

Last summer I slipped and fell in a grocery store. Someone I know said "get a lawyer right away". I did and had no idea why.

Well, after all the tests were done, it wound up I was not hurt and only had some bruising. But the lawyer had taken the case ahead of time and I signed a contingency agreement for him to get 1/3.

Like I said, this happened in July of 2005, last summer. Today being March of 2006 I called him to see when the case would be settled and asked why it has taken so long. He went into an angry tirade and closed with "get yourself another lawyer and come pick up your file." He had my email address from when I hired him and quickly sent me an email telling me he no longer represented me. I was shocked! He has not once during this entire time sent me any copies of anything as proof he has even been in touch with the grocery store. NOTHING. I think I have been very patient. My guess is that he put this on the back burner because he found out there were no injuries and he had taken the case becuase it was a big grocery chain and probably thought there would be alot of mone in it.

He also sent me a second email telling me he was going to put a lien on any future settlement I make with the grocery store for "time" he put in on the case. Muttered something about in the contingency agreement there was a clause that if he and I go our separate ways, he is entitled to be paid for his time.

That is fine, but he is the one who quit the case!!!! And has left me now with no lawyer.

Do I still have to pay him "for his time" even though I have no evidence that he did anything since he never sent me copies of anything? How about if I settle with the grocery store adjuster on my own? Do I still have to pay the lawyer for "his time". Would settling with the adjuster myself constitute a settlement he could put a lien on?

Is this fair? He strung me along, quit and now wants to be paid. I know this all sounds ludicrous but it is 100 per cent true. I am not leaving anything out!

Please help!

[Mr. Knowitall]

Your lawyer can try to enforce whatever provision is in your retainer agreement, for legal fees after his withdrawal from the case. If he was discharged for cause, it appears that he cannot claim a fee.

New York law is outlined in the case of Byrne v LeBlond:

A client has the absolute right to discharge an attorney at any time, with or without cause .... As against the client, where the discharge is without cause the outgoing attorney is limited to recovering in quantum meruit the reasonable value of the services rendered .... If the outgoing attorney is discharged for cause, the attorney is not entitled to any fee, notwithstanding a specific retainer agreement. ... Where there are conflicting claims as to the whether an outgoing attorney was discharged with or without cause, a hearing is necessary to resolve such dispute.

"Quantum meruit" means the amount merited by the work actually performed.