Some lawyers are lucky and rarely, if ever, deal with clients who don’t pay their bills. However, most lawyers will invariably be faced with a client who has not paid their bills and appears unlikely to do so in the future. If the matter a lawyer is handling for the client involves litigation, the lawyer may need to ask the court for permission to withdraw from his or her role as attorney, which can take time. There are a few things lawyers should keep in mind when deciding whether to withdraw from their role as attorney for non-payment.
I know of lawyers who withdraw from their practice shortly after a missed payment deadline. However, it might be worth waiting a bit before doing so. Customers have an unusual ability to pay in full even after months of non-payment. I’ve seen clients pay large invoices almost a year after the invoices were first generated. Withdrawing as an attorney could ruin an attorney-client relationship, so it may be important to show a little good faith to the client.
Additionally, a court might not understand why a lawyer would want to sever ties with a client shortly after a missed payment deadline. Generally, the more time that passes and the more an attorney can prove that there are ignored payment notices that have been served, the more likely the court is to allow the attorney to withdraw. Additionally, removal may involve work and expenses that can be avoided if the customer ends up paying those bills.
Another important factor in the decision to withdraw is the stage of the dispute. Lawyers generally should not wait until a case is ready for trial to withdraw from a case. Indeed, courts might find that clients and other stakeholders risk harm if a lawyer withdraws too late in a case. If the trial date is approaching, this may argue in favor of applying for leave to withdraw sooner rather than later to maximize the chance of the withdrawal being approved by the court.
It is also helpful to befriend attorneys for other parties in a case when seeking permission to withdraw. Clients rarely oppose motions to withdraw from their role as attorney, but I have seen other attorneys file a complaint against their attorney’s removal. Sometimes lawyers don’t want a case to be put on hold to allow a party to get a new lawyer, and other times they believe their clients’ interests would be better served if a party was represented by an attorney who has handled the case. However, I have seen lawyers firsthand not oppose motions to withdraw as a matter of professional courtesy when the lawyers liked each other. So this is another reason to maintain strong professional relationships.
It is also important to keep clients informed of the process that will be undertaken to allow the lawyer to withdraw. Often, courts require attorneys to serve their clients with orders and motion documents related to seeking removal from attorney duty, which can be confusing for a client. Indeed, I had a client who thought he would be sued since the documents relating to the request for withdrawal were served at his home. Communicating with clients can facilitate service of necessary documents and preserve some goodwill of the client toward their lawyer.
Overall, it generally makes sense to give a client at least a few months to make payments before asking the court to withdraw as their attorney for non-payment. However, the status of the litigation may dictate when an attorney files a motion to withdraw.
Jordan Rothman is a partner in The Rothman Law Firma full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student debt logsa website explaining how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan by email at jordan@rothma.law.
