Lee R. Schroeder is an Ohio licensed attorney with Schroeder Law LLC in Ottawa. He limits his practice to business, real estate, estate planning and agriculture issues in northwest Ohio. He can be reached at lee@leeschroeder.com or at (419) 523-5523. This article is not intended to serve as legal advice, and specific advice should be sought from the licensed attorney of your choice based upon the specific facts and circumstances that you face.
Attorneys can normally be fired or hired for any reason at any time in client relationships. Clients can even terminate the attorney’s work in the middle of projects. But attorneys are entitled to be paid for the services they provided, even if the client terminated the relationships in the middle of a project.
Client choice in selecting and retaining attorneys is at the heart of the legal profession. Therefore, an attorney can usually be fired or hired for any reason or no reason, often at almost any time. Notably, there are some limits on clients’ ability to fire his or her attorney, especially on the eve of a trial, particularly if it would result in a delay that prejudices the other party.
A client can terminate the attorney’s work, even in the midst of certain projects. For example, if an attorney is in the middle of preparing a contract, the client can end the relationship with that attorney before the contract is finished.
Read Lee’s full article in the Lima News regarding hiring and firing attorneys here: Legal-Ease: Is there a certain attorney that I must use?
Source: LimaOhio.com, “Legal-Ease: Is there a certain attorney that I must use?” by Lee R. Schroeder, November 21, 2015