Q: If u fire your lawyer is he required by law to give all of the information he has to your new lawyer?
I have a family member in jail & is being held responsible for some serious charges that he did not commit but the man he worked under did. They were both charged w my family member being under the owner of the business. Now the owner of the business is the "star witness" against him. It is a complete mess & it's in a very cliquish town. The family member violated his pre trial release by getting into an accident so is being held on a misdemeanor charge bc of the other case. He has been locked up since Jan 18th. There are 5 depositions that need to be done. He has literally gotten ONE done since he has been locked up. The lawyer has only spoke to my family member one time for 2 min in the whole 16 weeks he has been locked up. He does not keep me nor him informed of anything & will not answer any questions when asked. The problem is when the family member hired him he did not keep copies of everything. SO I need to know if we fire him does he by law have to provide all info he has?
A: Ethically, the former attorney has to turn over the "file" to the new attorney. He doesn't have to turn over documents or papers considered his own "work product". The attorney can charge reasonable fees for copying and labor. Depositions, recordings, photos, investigator reports and reports of experts might require payment if that hasn't already been done. If the lawyer is being difficult, you might need to get the judge involved.
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