Recently, when reading the news, I came across a headline stating that R. Kelly had parted ways with his attorneys ahead of his federal trial. The story was unclear about who parted with who, alleging that R. Kelly had fired his attorneys, while also going on to say that his attorneys had already filed a motion saying they wanted off the case. Whoever wanted out first is not what is important, what is important however is understanding that the attorney-client relationship is just like any other relationship. If either party cannot work with the other, they have the right to say, “You know what? I don’t want to be in this anymore.” If there has been an extreme erosion of trust in the relationship, attorneys can always file a motion to withdraw and let the client know they are asking the judge to take them off the case.

The same thing goes for the client. If the client has an issue with their attorney or feels they cannot trust them, they can discharge that attorney at any time and let them know their services are no longer needed. I share this because time and time again I have heard people express that they didn’t trust their lawyer, or that they didn’t feel their lawyer was working on their behalf. I want to impress upon you, if you ever find yourself in a situation like that, you have the right to communicate to them that their services are no longer needed and terminate the relationship.

If the relationship is a bad fit, it is always better to act before something happens, rather than waiting until after. It is more difficult to undo something that has already been done than it is to part ways in a hopefully reasonable and civil manner.  If the attorney-client relationship is not working, get the heck out. If you have any questions related to this or anything else, feel free to reach out to me. I’d be more than happy to talk.