Lawyer Withdrawing from Case Without Valid Reason
My question involves malpractice by a lawyer in the state of: Nevada
My lawyer withdrew after I refused to accept the other parties out of court settlement of let's say $10 (hypothetical). When I hired my lawyer, I told him what I was willing to settle for ($20). However, once the other party offered $10, my lawyer highly recommended that I compromise and take the offer. When I refused, he withdrew. Is this legal?
I know my lawyer can withdraw for the valid reason of not agreeing with me on something; however, when we started, I made it known to him how much I wanted and how much I would settle for. As a note- the $10 will not even cover my damages + legal fees.
Furthermore, he put a lien on my case.
What can I do/should I do?
Any tips/suggestions/comments would be very much appreciated, thanks!
Re: Lawyer Withdrawing from Case Without Valid Reason
I have no access to your retainer agreement - what provisions does it contain about withdrawal? I expect that it provides that your lawyer can resign in the event of your unreasonable refusal of an offer of settlement, but I can only guess.
If the case has been filed, the lawyer would normally have to get court approval to resign. What happened?
Re: Lawyer Withdrawing from Case Without Valid Reason
Quote:
Quoting
ekay418
I know my lawyer can withdraw for the valid reason of not agreeing with me on something;
!
Thats assumption is not correct. If your attny disagrees with something then who has the final word? Assuming the relationship survives then its usually the client. The attny may not do something you want though. But as far as settlements go, its up to the client.
Re: Lawyer Withdrawing from Case Without Valid Reason
Quote:
Quoting
Mr. Knowitall
I have no access to your retainer agreement - what provisions does it contain about withdrawal? I expect that it provides that your lawyer can resign in the event of your unreasonable refusal of an offer of settlement, but I can only guess.
If the case has been filed, the lawyer would normally have to get court approval to resign. What happened?
Thanks for the replies.
I'll look over the retainer agreement and get back to you on that.
Quote:
Quoting
davidmcbeth3
Thats assumption is not correct. If your attny disagrees with something then who has the final word? Assuming the relationship survives then its usually the client. The attny may not do something you want though. But as far as settlements go, its up to the client.
Oh, okay. Well, his withdrawal really put me in a sticky situation. He put a lien on my case, so he needs to get paid. The settlement offer is on the table till this Monday - November 28th (tomorrow). If I don't take the settlement (I don't want to), then I have to pay my lawyer out of pocket (which I can't do). So basically, I need to take the settlement. UNLESS, I can somehow convince my lawyer to stay on the case, or somehow prove that he is not allowed to withdraw from the case?
How should I go about this?