When you switch attorneys in the middle of a personal injury case, it’s important that your new attorney have access to your records. Fortunately, you should be able to retain most of your information and transfer it to your new lawyer.
Your Rights to Your Files
If you are unhappy with your current lawyer, you are certainly within your rights to discontinue using their services. Many clients switch to our firm because their other lawyers were not adequately tending to the cases. We’ve heard stories about painfully slow responses to phone calls and cases that drag on forever, with no end in sight. Other clients don’t even know what files they should ask to transfer, they have been out of the loop for so long.
You have a right to many of your files that are in your former lawyer’s possession. You’re entitled to access to most of the items within your case file because much of the info technically belongs to you. You can request that your attorney give the files directly to you or transfer them to your new lawyer. If you are switching firms to Bressman Law, we can obtain the files directly from your prior lawyer by having you fill out an information release.
Files to Provide Your New Lawyer
You are entitled to any documents or info that you’ve provided to your prior lawyer, as well as what’s referred to as “factual work product.”
Factual work product includes these items.
- Medical records
- Collected receipts
- Documents filed with the court
- Depositions and testimonies
- Correspondence
You may or may not be able to recover opinion-oriented documents from your previous attorney. For example, depending on your states laws, you may not have rights to attorney notes or any documents that reflect the lawyers’ legal theories, opinions, or impressions.
This information is called “absolute work product.” If you departed from your former attorney amicably, she might decide to give you a copy of all your files, both factual and absolute, even if the law doesn’t require her to do so. Your new lawyer can advise you of which data might be recoverable.
Also to transferring documents to your new firm, you will want to give your new attorney copies of any and all evidence that you supplied to your prior attorney.
Evidence that your new attorney will want is as follows.
- Accident reports
- Witness information
- Your injury journal
- All injury-related receipts and bills
Switching Lawyers to Bressman Law in Ohio
Unsatisfied with the way your case is being handled by another firm? We strongly encourage you to try to work out any issues with your current lawyer. If you absolutely, positively cannot do so, call our office in Ohio today for a free consultation. We believe you will appreciate our high rate of success, spectacular client reviews, and unparalleled service. You can get a more comprehensive view of our level of knowledge by reading our free eBook, Auto Collisions: Knowledge is Power Guide!
Contact us today at (614) 538-1116.