Knowing how to fire a lawyer may be one of the most important things that a car accident or personal injury victim can learn. People go to lawyers for help. But sometimes people go to the wrong lawyer.

Sadly, people who have made a mistake and hired the wrong lawyer often don’t know they have better options. That doesn’t have to be the case. You can fire your lawyer.

How to fire an attorney – No explanation needed

You can fire your Michigan lawyer at any time and for any reason. The comment to Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 1.16(a)(3) provides that a “client has a right to discharge a lawyer at any time, with or without cause . . .”

Can you switch lawyers, or even fire your lawyer, in the middle of a case?

You certainly can. Plus, when you do so, you have the right to take your file and all of your documents, medical records and pleadings with you … even though the lawyer you’re firing may try to mislead you into thinking the file belongs to him or her.

You have a right to your file and a lawyer can’t hold your file hostage or tell you that switching lawyers will hurt your case as a way to deter you from leaving.

In fact, Michigan’s ethics rules for lawyers provides that “[u]pon termination of representation, a lawyer shall take reasonable steps to protect a client’s interests, such as . . . surrendering papers and property to which the client is entitled . . . .” (MRPC Rule 1.16(d))

Can firing a lawyer or switching lawyers affect client confidentiality? 

You are still protected. Client confidentiality still applies even after you fire a lawyer or switch lawyers after a lawsuit has been filed on your behalf.

Your right to confidentiality of the information you provided to and/or shared with your previous lawyer continues even after you fire that lawyer.

The comments to the Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct dealing with attorney-client confidentiality clearly state:

• The “duty of confidentiality continues after the client-lawyer relationship has terminated . . . ;”
• After a lawyer has been fired by a client, “the lawyer is required to refrain from making disclosure of the client’s confidences . . . .” (MRPC 1.6(b))( Michigan’s ethics rules for lawyers generally prevent a lawyer from revealing a client’s confidences or secrets and/or from using those confidences or secrets “to the disadvantage of the client . . . .”)

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