Q. I just received a letter from my lawyer stating that he is leaving his current firm and starting his own practice. He is asking me to check a box as to whether I want to move my case to his new firm or stay with the firm that he is leaving. I thought about calling and asking him to help me understand the differences if I go with him or if I stay, but then I wondered if his responses will be designed in a way to convince me to go with him.

Can you provide me with some things to consider as I weigh my options of staying with him as my lawyer or not? I don’t want to be seen by the judge as unreasonable because I am someone who repeatedly changes lawyers. I worried about that the first time I changed counsel after it was clear to me that my initial lawyer was not up for the challenge of my case.  We have a pretrial conference in June, and I don’t really want the judge to get the wrong idea about me changing lawyers again.

A. The easy part to answer is your last concern.  If your lawyer leaves his firm and you stay with the firm, you are not seen as changing lawyers – you still have the same firm representing you, it’s just your lawyer chose to leave.  Likewise, if you choose to go with your lawyer, you are not seen as changing lawyers again because you are just moving firm addresses with him. Whatever decision you make here will not reflect badly on you.

As for the pros and cons, you should make a list to help think through your options. How well do you work with your lawyer?  Does he have others in his current firm who work on your case – a more senior partner overseeing things or a more junior associate helping him so that someone there will have the requisite background if you stay? If so, do you feel the connection with them as you do with him? Will anyone from his current firm be moving with him as he starts his own firm? What type of support staff will he have at his new firm? And who will be responsible if he is on vacation, gets sick or is otherwise out of the office and unavailable?

Both your lawyer and his firm have ethical obligations to you as the client.  You are free to choose to go or stay and whatever your choice, your lawyer and his firm will have to cooperate with each other to ensure continuity in your case so you remain well represented.

Email questions to whickey@brickjones.com