Return phone calls.
Respond to emails.
Transfer the file immediately.
Transfer the complete file, with papers intact.
Sorry that the client decided to fire you and go elsewhere. But you were paid for your services, even though you are now out of the case. It happens. There is a guy sitting in jail expecting a lawyer to be doing his job, working on his case, doing everything he can to represent him. Except the old lawyer can’t be bothered to cooperate.
Your feelings are hurt? You’re too busy? You just don’t feel like it?
You are depriving the defendant of representation. Every day you delay is a day that work cannot be done on the case. The government may be prosecuting, but you are hindering the defense. It’s wrong. It’s unethical. It’s unprofessional. Maybe if you demonstrated greater concern for your client, you would still be on the case.
But you’re not. Get over it and get the file into the hands of the new lawyer. Everyone is waiting for you.
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Do these things even if you think the client still owes you money.
The new attorney can get a copy of the discovery from the government, and the case file from the clerk of court will have the motions filed.
Do I also owe the new attorney several hours of phone calls and emails explaining my theory of the case, the witnesses I personally met with, and the things I know about the case that he could never possibly relearn because circumstances have changed?
I see your point, and I’ll email you my file for the case, but if you think it’s incomplete and want explanations, then maybe you should pay me for my time.
Interesting attitude. You seem to know a great deal about how it feels to be fired by your client, and how it’s all about money for you rather than any duty to the defendant.
I can’t help but wonder whether there’s a correlation here.
It’s happened once to me. I did nothing wrong, the client had no adverse ruling, she just felt more comfortable with a female attorney. My problem isn’t with the client but with the attorney who thought it was my duty to email her and return her calls almost daily because she entered a case after virtually all pre-trial motions were finished and voir dire was on the next month’s docket.
It’s not only about the money, but once a substitution of counsel is made, I don’t have an obligation to help a former client for free. Sure, I won’t obviously do anything to harm their chances, but I won’t spend hours for free with new counsel helping them prepare their case.
So this has nothing to do with the post, but rather an opportunity for you to vent about a single instance when the new lawyer asked too much of you?
You have an obligation to help a former client for free, to the extent of a prompt turnover of the file, a conversation about things that happened that aren’t reflected in the file but are necessary for the new lawyer to know what’s transpired. If you’ve interviewed witnesses, then you have to tell the new lawyer about it. If you’ve visited the crime scene, that too. That’s part of the job. As for your theory of the defense, which I can’t imagine why any new lawyer would care but I believe you when you say you were asked, that’s yours, not the client’s.
As for daily phone calls, and several hours on the phone, I’ve never heard of such a thing and can’t begin to imagine how it could possibly be necessary or appropriate to the transferal of the case to the new lawyer. Then again, I know of no half-competent new lawyer who would want or need to spend several hours on the phone with her predecessor. It’s just not that much fun.
The big issue, however, is that your experience has nothing to do with the point of the post, anymore than one bizarre anecdotal experience alters the duty of a former lawyer to the new lawyer. But if you feel the need to vent about your peculiar experience, start a blog instead of shitting up this post with your own issues.