Some lawyers are lucky and rarely, if ever, need to deal with clients who do not pay their bills. However, the vast amount of attorneys will invariably face a client that has not paid their bills and seems unlikely to do so in the future. If the matter a lawyer is handling for the client involves litigation, the attorney may need to ask the court permission to withdraw as counsel, which can be a time-consuming process. There are a few things lawyers should keep in mind when deciding if they should withdraw as counsel for nonpayment.
I know some lawyers who withdraw as counsel shortly after a missed payment deadline. However, it might be worthwhile to wait a little before doing so. Clients have an unusual ability to pay in full even after months of nonpayment have passed. I have seen clients pay substantial bills close to a year after invoices were first generated. Withdrawing as counsel might ruin an attorney-client relationship, so it might be important to extend the client a little good faith.
Moreover, a court might not appreciate that a lawyer wants to cut ties with a client shortly after a missed payment deadline. Generally, the more time that has passed, and the more ignored payment notices a lawyer can show were served, the more likely a court will be to permit counsel to withdraw. Moreover, withdrawing might involve work and expenses that can be avoided if the client eventually pays those invoices.
Another important factor in the decision to withdraw is the stage of the litigation. Lawyers generally should not wait until a case is trial-ready to withdraw from a matter. This is because courts might find that clients and other stakeholders may be prejudiced by a withdrawal of counsel too late in a case. If a trial date is approaching, this might militate in favor of asking for permission to withdraw earlier rather than later in order to maximize the chance withdrawal will be approved by the court.
It also pays to make friends with counsel for other parties to a case when asking permission to withdraw. Clients rarely oppose motions to withdraw as counsel, but I have seen other lawyers to a case file opposition to the withdrawal of counsel. Sometimes lawyers do not want a case stayed to allow a party to obtain new counsel, and other times, lawyers think their clients’ interests would be best served if a party is represented by counsel who has been handling the matter. However, I have seen firsthand lawyers not opposing withdrawal motions out of professional courtesy when counsel liked each other, so this is another reason to maintain solid professional relationships.
It is also important to keep clients apprised of the process that will be undertaken to permit counsel to withdraw. Often, courts require lawyers to serve clients with orders and motion papers related to the request to be relieved as counsel, and this can be confusing to a client. Indeed, I had one client who thought he was being sued since papers related to the motion to withdraw were served at his home. Communication with clients can help make service of the necessary documents easier and preserve some goodwill the client may have for their counsel.
All told, it usually makes sense to give a client at least a few months to make payments before asking the court to withdraw as counsel for nonpayment. However, the state of the litigation may dictate when a lawyer files a motion to withdraw.
Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothman.law.
The post Considerations When Withdrawing As Counsel For Nonpayment Of Fees appeared first on Above the Law.