Legal Information Archives - The Baer Law Firm

Terminating the services of a lawyer in Georgia is easy. You just send a short email, letter, fax, even a text stating that you no longer wish his or her services and ask that he or she send you your complete file. You have a strong constitutional right to have the lawyer of your choice represent you on a case. Regardless of the agreement that you may have signed, that agreement cannot prevent you from replacing that lawyer. It would be unconstitutional if it did. Any written communication will be fine to terminate the relationship. A phone call would work as well though you would want to have a clear communication in writing so there was no room for misunderstanding.

What is much more difficult is knowing whether it is in your best interest to terminate your current lawyer and hire someone else. Below are some things to do before you fire your current lawyer.

1. Have a heart to heart. Before firing your lawyer, ask to speak to him and her about what is bothering you about the representation. A common phrase is “the wheels of justice move slowly.” That has never been truer than in these Covid-19 times. If you’re terminating your attorney because you feel your case is not moving fast enough or you feel like you are not receiving timely updates or the lawyer is not returning your phone calls, ask the lawyer what you should expect with respect to timelines, updates and returned phone calls. Any good lawyer will be glad to speak to with respect to expectations and should be able to lay out a high-level timeline regarding when certain events should happen with respect to your case. If you cannot get your lawyer to have such a conversation with you or the lawyer is unable to explain what expectations are, it may be time to break up.
2. Speak to other lawyers. Before you fire your lawyer, you should have an idea as to whether or not another lawyer will be ready, willing, and able to pick up your case. If you are frustrated with expectations being set by your current lawyer either with respect to expected results or timeline to achieve them, it may be because you have a more challenging case than you realize. Other lawyers may not be interested in taking your case or if interested, they may not be agreeable to do so on terms as favorable as you have with your current lawyer or may have an even lower expectation about potential case outcome. The last thing you want is to fire your lawyer and then left trying to represent yourself. (Rarely if ever likely to yield a successful outcome). Speaking to other lawyers about challenges may make you appreciate the representation you are receiving.
3. Research reputation of current lawyer. Go to state’s bar directory and see if the lawyer has been the subject of any disciplinary proceedings. Does your lawyer have reviews or ratings on Google, Yelp, AVVO or other lawyer directories? What do those reviews say? Most all lawyers will have a bad review or two so focus on the overall impression majority of clients leave. Are positive reviews specific such that they appear genuine or does it appear lawyer mines anyone and everyone for a “5-star” review to get his or her numbers up. You will certainly want to compare the on-line reputation with the lawyer with whom you are considering as his or her replacement.
4. Speak to your prospective new lawyer about transition. Make sure your new lawyer is asking questions about pending deadlines. Your prospective new lawyer should be asking questions such as, “has suit been filed?” Have you been deposed (other lawyer asked you questions under oath in the presence of a court reporter)? Have you responded to written questions from the other lawyer? Have any Motions been filed such as Motions to Dismiss, Motions for Summary Judgment, etc. Who are the lawyers on the other side? Are there any hearings or trial dates scheduled? Who is responsible for obtaining the file? You or your new lawyer? What is the time frame in which the new lawyer will be able to review your file and get fully up to speed? If your prospective lawyer is not asking these questions, he or she may not be the right lawyer for you.
5. Have a candid conversation about legal fees with current and prospective lawyer. If you owe legal fees to your current lawyer or are on a contingency fee agreement, your current lawyer may have the right to file a lien against any recovery you should receive in your case. Ask your current lawyer what can be done to compensate them for time on the case and whether they intend to file a lien. You should also ask your prospective lawyer about his or her thoughts with respect to fees owed to previous lawyer. It is a small legal community, even in the biggest of metropolitan areas. Nine times out of ten fee issues can be resolved between the lawyers. However, you do want to make sure you and your new lawyer have a plan and you want to make sure you do not grossly overpay for legal services. For instance, on a contingency fee case (where the fee is a percentage of the recovery), you need to know if the new lawyer is taking the case on a full contingency fee and expects that you personally deal with any attorney-lien filed by previous lawyer separately. There are situations where that is the case, but such situations are rare. Regardless, if your case is such a situation, your lawyer should explain to you clearly why it is so. Otherwise, too much of your recovery will be consumed by legal fees on the case.

Considering Hiring a New Lawyer?

If you’re reading this because you’re considering terminating your current personal injury or medical malpractice attorney in the State of Georgia, contact The Baer Law Firm at (404) THE-BAER (404-843-2237) for an analysis of your legal matter and the current progress on your case. During our consultation, we’ll answer your immediate legal questions to the best of our ability, give you advice on whether it makes sense to change lawyers and provide an outline of what you can expect from us if you choose to change legal representation.

Accidents happen all the time. In many of them, people are injured. If you are injured, to recover compensation for your injury, you must file a lawsuit before a legal deadline. The deadline is called the statute of limitations. If you don’t file in time, your case will be “time-barred” and a Court will dismiss or throw it out shortly after you file it. For that reason, you should retain a conscientious, experienced personal injury lawyer shortly after getting hurt to make sure that your suit does not become time barred.

The Default Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury

Absent other circumstances (and the Covid-19 pandemic is one of those circumstances)., the statute of limitations for personal injuries, such as those stemming from an injury on in a parking lot, car wreck or due to medical malpractice, is two years in Georgia. What that means is that you must actually file a lawsuit within two years of the date you were injured. Unless an exception applies, then your case will be dismissed if you file too late. You will be forever barred from seeking recovery for your personal injuries.

Running of Statute of Limitations Suspended due to the Covid-19 Pandemic

Sometimes, the deadline for filing a personal injury lawsuit can be extended to more than two years. When this happens, it is called “tolling” the statute of limitations. Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, the Supreme Court of Georgia under its powers to grant judicial emergencies, tolled the statute of limitations. Actually, what the Judicial Emergency Orders issued by the Supreme Court of Georgia did was suspend the running of the statute of limitations from March 14, 2020 through July 14, 2020. In other words, the Statute of Limitations did not run during this time.

So whatever time you had to file your case as of March 14, 2020, as of July 14, 2020, you had the same time to file your case as you had on March 14, 2020. However, even though we have remained in a pandemic and various Emergency Orders have been in place after July 14, 2020, those subsequent orders DO NOT further suspend the Statute of Limitations.

Some examples will hopefully help illustrate. Say you were injured on December 23, 2018. Ordinarily, the statute of limitations would have run and you would have lost right to bring your case had you not filed suit on or before December 23, 2020. However, the Statute of Limitations was suspended and thus did not run during the period of March 14, 2020 through July 14, 2020, a period of 122 days. Thus you would add 122 days to December 23, 2020. The new Statute of Limitations date for your lawsuit would be March 27, 2021 (assuming I did my calculations accurately).

However, if you were injured between March 14, 2020 and July 14, 2020, you do not add 122 days. Again, the statute of limitations was merely suspended during this time such that the statute of limitations would begin to run July 15, 2020. So, if you were injured anytime between March 14, 2020 and July 14, 2020, the way I interpret the Order, the Statute of Limitations for your lawsuit would run July 15, 2022. Of course, if you were injured July 15, 2020 or later, the statute of limitations would remain two years from the date you were injured.

Just because you now have additional time to file a lawsuit, does not mean you should delay calling a lawyer and it does not mean you should delay filing suit in your case. Even in the simplest case, lawyers typically need months of lead time to investigate your case, obtain relevant medical records and bills, locate the at-fault party to get him personally served, etc. before filing suit. If you wait until just a few months before the statute expires to contact a lawyer, you might find no lawyer will take your case. Furthermore, failing to call a lawyer shortly after suffering an injury may jeopardize your case in ways you would not expect. Needed evidence may be lost. Proper parties and insurers may not be put on notice. In short, if you have been seriously injured due to the fault of another, get a good lawyer on your side as soon as possible.

Furthermore, no good lawyer wants to rely on this extension, which defense lawyers and insurance companies may interpret differently, when taking and filing your personal injury case. Personally, I am still calendaring the original statute dates on all my personal injury cases irrespective of the statute of limitations suspension. While the Order and published guidance is relatively clear (as legal wording goes), I have seen and heard of some rather bizarre interpretations from colleagues. If any lawyer tells you not to worry, they have plenty of time to file on account of the Covid-19 pandemic, you may want to consult with another lawyer.

Other Tolling Exceptions

There are a number of other tolling exceptions to the running of the statute, and these are the more common other exceptions.

If you are not yet 18 years old when you get hurt, the statute of limitations will not begin to run until your 18th birthday.
If you are legally incompetent because of intellectual disability or mental illness at the time of the accident, or become legally incompetent within two years after the accident through no fault of your own, then the statute of limitations is tolled until such time as you regain competence.
If the person who hurt you is prosecuted for a crime arising out of the accident, such as driving under the influence or even speeding, the two-year statute of limitations is tolled “until the prosecution of such crime or act has become final or otherwise terminated,” except that the ultimate deadline for filing suit will not be extended more than six years from the date of the accident.
If the accident resulted in death, then the time between the person’s death and the commencement of representation of the person’s estate is not counted, provided that period of time is no more than five years. However, this exception is only for damages that the estate could recover such as medical bills between the time of injury and death, it does not toll time to bring claim for the actual loss of the life of a family member.

Act Swiftly When Suing Government Entities

Georgia law, like the laws of many other states, requires an injured person to give notice to a government entity if the person plans to sue that entity for personal injuries. Although technically, these deadlines are not a statute of limitations, the effect is the same: If you don’t give notice of your claim within the time period, then your claim is barred. Two of the most common time limits are six months when bringing a claim against city and twelve months when against a county or state.

Strategize With Counsel Over When To File

An injured person should consult with counsel soon after the accident. To develop a personal injury case properly takes time, so the sooner a person sees a lawyer, the better.

Before filing suit, your lawyer will want to make sure that you have healed to the extent possible so that the lawyer can recover the greatest possible amount of damages for you. It would do you no good to file, then settle your case after six months, if new injuries from the accident emerged after a year. The lawyer will also want to develop and document your case property by gathering evidence and consulting with your doctors.

To avoid the statute of limitations running, you should consult an attorney soon after an accident. You should interview an experienced personal injury attorney as soon as you can so that the attorney will have time to develop your case fully well before the statutory deadline to file suit.

What to Know Before (and After) Firing Your Lawyer in Georgia