I have an attorney who I think is pretty complacent and not representing us as strong or as aggressive as I believe she should. I have heard from a judge who is a friend of the family that another attorney does real well in the court room. The down side is the new attorney is in the same office/firm as the first one... Is it ethical and acceptable for me to switch attorneys to one in the same firm/office.
Thanks....
WRG
Sure it is. The new lawyer may not take the case but there is nothing wrong with you asking.
Prorkycake
Have you discussed this with your attorney? Your current attorney cannot meet your needs if you fail to communicate with him/her. Before heading down that path, you should at the very least schedule a meeting with the attorney and express your concerns. I can tell you from experience that it is not advisable to change counsel in the middle of litigation. Things get sloppy, even within the same firm. If after you express your concerns and see no improvement, you will still need to speak with your attorney about transferring the case. Some firms have a no-transfer policy and fire you as a client on the spot. Our firm allows this, but I know of firms that do not. They take it as an insult. Yes, there are pompous firms out there LOL.
As a paralegal, I advocate attorney communication. Tell him/her your needs, your concerns and give the attorney a chance to work for you. They can't do that if you just decide one day to fire them. If it doesn't work out, I would recommend speaking to both attorneys regarding the transfer of the file. It happens in our firm because each attorney does specialize in something different. I'm just saying don't get your heart set on it. Not all firms allow it and this new attorney may have too large a case load.
**CAVEAT** I have 1-2 users that intentionally troll my answers to do nothing but automatically rate my answers with a thumbs down regardless of how accurate my answer is. My answer is NOT LEGAL advice and contains information easily found through Internet research. The unauthorized practice of law is defined as giving legal advice and/or representation TO CLIENTS. My answer in no way forms a client relationship. I am not an attorney.
Paralegals are not licensed to practice in any state, nor are paralegals regulated by any legal body. Registration is voluntary in a few states. Please do your research and know more about the paralegal profession before accusing anyone of committing UPL or ignorantly stating that a paralegal license (which no US paralegal has because it does not exist) or education can be revoked.
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