Thousand Oaks, CA asked in Employment Discrimination and Employment Law for California

Q: Have a wrongful termination case. my last attorney and I had a "breakdown in communication"

He asked me to seek other counsel but wanted me to be the one to dismiss him. I believed, at the time, my case would be more appealing to other attorneys if they left me rather then me leaving them, on a contingent case.

I have not been able to find an attorney since. Now, I think I may have had it totally backwards and that was the worst thing I could do in the eyes of an attorney.

Am I correct? As an attorney, would taking my case be disrespectful to your colleagues or just make me look like a difficult client? Or both?

1 Lawyer Answer
Neil Pedersen
Neil Pedersen
Answered
  • Employment Law Lawyer
  • Westminster, CA
  • Licensed in California

A: Disrespectful no. However, it is always a red flag for an attorney looking at a case when the client had a prior attorney who no longer wanted to work with the client because of a communication breakdown. No attorney wants to take on a case that will turn into a nightmare where the client and attorney cannot get along. Therefore I am sure you are having some difficulty in finding counsel for that reason.

That said, if you have a case with good merits and enough value to make the risk worth it, you may still find an attorney to assist you. Many clients post here about difficulty finding an attorney, but in most situations they simply did not find the right attorney to ask. I would suggest you look either on this site, or go to www.cela.org, the home page for the California Employment Lawyers Association, an organization whose members are dedicated to the representation of employees against their employers.

Good luck to you.

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