Q: Can I sue my lawyer for "withdrawal is failure to cooperate in good faith?"
I have been working with my lawyer for 1.5 years, and just as my disability retirement case is in the final stages (which looks like it won't be a winner), they decided to withdraw as my lawyer because they say I am not cooperating in good faith. Basically, the lawyer wanted me to submit my FMLA paperwork to my doctors and dictating to my doctors what HAD to be put in my FLMA paperwork. I didn't tell my doctors what to write, I wanted them to be honest in their write-up. Because I didn't tell my doctors they had to put X,Y,Z checkboxes, the law firm decided to drop me.
I feel like they dropped me because they knew they weren't going to win so it was better to drop me at the last minute.
**EDIT TO ADD** The case has been on-going for over 1.5 years and is in the last phase. The reason I would want to sue my lawyer is that she dropped my case at the last minute. She just filed a "Appellant's Representative's Notice of Withdrawal of Counsel"
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A:
I’m sorry you had a negative experience with your attorney. Hire another attorney to handle your disability case if you don’t want to represent yourself. The issues with the forms from the doctor may have caused a problem with your case or it could be a the whole set of records don’t support your case. A new attorney may be able to explain to you what the issues are with your case and whether or not they can be fixed before your hearing.
I’m unclear as to what you would be suing your prior attorney for. Attorneys are not required to represent people when they believe the case has no merit as long as they follow the rules of the agency or court (and state ethics rules) in withdrawing their representation.
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