Switching Lawyers in Illinois Car Accident Cases

Unfortunately, many people experience communication or trust issues with their legal counsel after a motor vehicle accident. While it is usually best to try and mend the relationship first, you have the absolute right to fire your current Illinois car accident lawyer and hire a new one at any time. Best of all, making this switch will not cost you anything out of pocket.

If you think you hired the wrong law firm, we are happy to talk about it with you and help you figure out your options, even if that means sticking with your current attorney. Contact us at 312-346-5320 for a FREE, confidential case review. We have helped over 500,000 people since 2001 and we would LOVE to help you.

Understanding the Contingency Fee

In Illinois personal injury and car accident cases, attorneys work on a contingency fee basis. This means:

• You pay zero upfront costs or hourly fees; the attorney is only paid if they secure a financial recovery or settlement for you.
• The attorney fee is a percentage of your final recovery—typically 33.3% (one-third) of what is recovered.
• Your total attorney fee does not increase just because you change law firms.
• You do not have to pay your old law firm any money to get them off your case.

The Fear of Double-Billing is Unfounded

Many car accident victims tolerate poor representation because they fear they will have to pay a full fee to both their old lawyer and their new lawyer. This is completely false.

Whether you hire one attorney or multiple firms throughout your case, the total attorney fee deducted from your final settlement remains a single percentage (e.g., 33.3%).

If your original lawyer expects compensation for the work they already performed, they will assert a lien on the case under the Illinois Attorneys Lien Act. It is entirely up to your new lawyer and your old lawyer to resolve how to split that single fee percentage based on the work completed (a legal principle known as quantum meruit). If they cannot agree, a judge or arbitrator will decide for them. You will never pay any money out of your own pocket to resolve this dispute.

We were involved in a case where the first law firm was doing a terrible job and told the client the case might not be worth anything. We got them with a better attorney who was able to get a $600,000 settlement for them. The attorney fee was $200,000 and the client got the rest minus a few thousand dollars in expenses. The old lawyer and new lawyer worked out a fee split, but all that happened to the client is that they got more money than they ever expected because they got a better attorney on the case.

Why Timing Matters: The Settlement Offer Rule

While you can technically switch lawyers at any time, it is highly critical to make the change before an insurance company extends a formal settlement offer.

If your current lawyer has already secured a formal settlement offer from the auto insurance adjuster, they are typically entitled to their full percentage of that specific amount. A new attorney would then only earn a fee on the additional money they manage to recover over and above that initial offer. Because this limits a new firm’s potential compensation, it becomes significantly harder to find a top-tier car accident lawyer willing to take over your case after a settlement offer is already on the table. It’s not always impossible, but the case would have to worth a lot more money to entice a new firm to take over.

Signs It Is Time to Switch Lawyers

Before severing ties, it is often worth scheduling a direct conversation to express your frustrations. However, you should seriously consider firing your car accident attorney if they:

• Consistently ignore your phone calls, emails, or texts.
• Treat you disrespectfully, belittle your injuries, or lie to you.
• Fail to request your medical records, ordering police reports, or filing necessary insurance claims.
• Pressure you into accepting a lowball settlement offer from the insurance company just to resolve the case quickly.

One other reason people call us for a new attorney is because they do not feel that their lawyer is fighting for them. This happens a lot when an attorney says that they are only handling the injury part of a claim and not the property damage part. In our opinion, if you hire a car accident lawyer, they should handle both and if they will not, you should get rid of them.

As the client, you deserve excellent communication and proactive representation. Many high-volume “settlement mill” law firms take on more car accident cases than they can handle, leaving files sitting idle or assigning them to inexperienced staff. You do not have to settle for an attorney who is not aggressively fighting for your maximum recovery.

A car accident upends your life; your law firm shouldn’t make it harder. If your current lawyer is dropping the ball, every day you wait is another day the insurance company has the advantage. You are under no obligation to stay with an attorney who treats your case like a file number. If you would like our help in finding a better firm, please contact us at 312-346-5320. We cover all of Illinois and only recommend attorneys we would suggest to family members or friends. These are lawyers we know and believe in because we have seen their great work and received amazing feedback on them. We would LOVE to do whatever we can to help you.