Can you fire your attorney?

Some people hire an attorney and then decide later that they’re not happy with the representation they’re getting. Can you fire your attorney?

Video Transcription

Hello, my name is Andrew Flusche. I’m a Virginia traffic and DUI attorney. One question I’ve been asked before is whether or not a defendant can fire their attorney before the case is done. The answer is yes.

Where this comes up sometimes is with people who go into court initially and are appointed a court appointed attorney or public defender but decide later on that they’d like to hire their own attorney. You can do it in those circumstances. Even if you hire a private attorney from the get-go you can change attorneys midstream. It’s your absolute right to decide which attorney is going to represent you in your case.

Now, with all that said, it might not be the best course of action. You definitely want to think about that carefully before you were to fire your attorney and try to hire someone else. For one, the attorney that has started on your case already is going to have some background knowledge and would have put some time into it, so it may be harder for another attorney to get up to speed quickly enough for your trial. So it could kind of set your case back a little bit. Secondly, sometimes issues between an attorney and their client kind of boils down to communication in a lot of cases. So if you’re not happy with your attorney maybe not returning your calls or not emailing you promptly, it might be something you could discuss with them and resolve instead of firing them.

I’m not saying it wouldn’t work in every case. In some cases you may really need to change your attorney, but I definitely would encourage you to think about that carefully and talk to them before you were to change attorneys because it might set your case back. But you do in fact have the right to choose your own attorney for your Virginia traffic or misdemeanor case, or really for any legal case. It’s your choice of counsel.