What to Do If Your Lawyer Is Not Helping You | An Expert Guide

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What to do if your lawyer is not helping you? A plaintiff gets the services of a lawyer to process his will in court. It is impossible to proceed with a case in court without the help of a lawyer. A lawyer is the face of the client in court. So, he acts as a representative of his client in court.

However, sometimes a lawyer may not respond properly to his clients. It’s not always true that a lawyer is intentionally ignoring the client. There may be certain reasons that may lead him not to respond to the plaintiffs.

You may know that the coordination between a lawyer and his client plays a vital role in processing the will in court. Without proper coordination, the case may fail to meet its proper ends. So, learning what to do if your lawyer is not helping you is important in such a case. This article will be discussing this query. So, let’s explore all about the query under discussion.

What to Do If Your Lawyer Is Not Helping You

When your lawyer is not responding to you properly, it means he is not taking an interest in your case. In such a situation, he’ll neither receive your case nor will call you back. It’s not a good sign as it will cease your case and not process properly.

In such a case, don’t keep on waiting for your lawyer’s response. Rather search for another one and assign your case to him. The new lawyer may handle your case effectively.

How to Judge a Lawyer?

Whether he’s honest or not, judging a lawyer is very important. One can clear this point via various factors. Some of the factors to judge a lawyer are given here.

Via Lawyers Behaviour

One of the most important things in determining if a lawyer will act honestly for you is how they have treated other people. A good lawyer will never misbehave or be rude. If he can’t handle your case, he’ll suggest you to an expert.

However, a bad lawyer will not behave in a friendly manner. He’ll behave rudely. This is a way to judge whether a lawyer is good or not for your case.

Attorney’s Coordination with You

Another factor that may help you judge whether a lawyer is good or not is the lawyer’s communication. As you know, communication is the key to the success of any case. If a lawyer communicates with you regarding the case issues, he is a good person and vice versa.

Lawyer Will Tell You Lie

If a lawyer tells you something different from the actual proceedings of the case, he’s not an honest or loyal person. He’ll not move on properly with your case. If there is a contrast between the attorney’s arguments and the real case, it means he’s hiding something from you. So, such a lawyer will not be an honest person.

Lawyer’s Interest in the Case

A good attorney will take your case seriously. He’ll not take it easy and lightly. However, if a lawyer is not taking your case seriously, he’ll not process the case properly. So, when you seem that your lawyer is not taking much interest in your case, leave him and adopt a new lawyer.

Lawyer’s Thinking About the Case

When a lawyer seems optimistic and keeps you motivated regarding the case, he’s taking your case seriously. However, when a lawyer seems pessimistic regarding the case, he’ll not be suitable for your will. When you think that the attorney is not supporting you in processing the case, leave him and adopt a new one.

Reasons behind a Lawyer’s Poor Communication

Many reasons may keep a lawyer silent, and he doesn’t communicate with the client. Here are some of such reasons.

Long Gap between Court Trials

Sometimes, your case may have a long gap between one trial and the next. The attorney becomes busy in other clients’ cases in such a situation. He knows how and when to communicate on your case. So, he may avoid communicating with you frequently. This may be one of the reasons behind the poor communication of the lawyer with you.

Busy in Other Cases

A good attorney has plenty of cases at the same time. So, you’ll not be the only client whom he’s handling. There may be many other persons like you to whom the attorney has to give time properly. If he feels that time is there in your case trials, he’ll get close to those whose case trials are imminent. This is another reason behind the poor coordination of the lawyer.

Lack of Time

Besides representing the clients, lawyers also act as consultants for different clients. Also, they may be members of any law firm, or they may have a separate office to run. Whether a lawyer has an office or is a member of any law firm, he’ll have to deal with the clients there too. So, he may be busy; this thing doesn’t let him chat with you. This is another recurring reason behind the lack of coordination on the lawyer’s part.

Busy in Personal Issue

Every person has some personal affairs besides his legal ones. So, he has to manage his time accordingly. Being a part of the social system, a lawyer will also have some personal issues. To resolve his problems, he will have to attend to them too. So, he may not respond to you while attending to his issues.

No Update about the Case

A lawyer will only coordinate with you if there is anything new about the case. However, if he doesn’t find anything new about the will, he will not coordinate with you. It’s also a reason why your lawyer may not coordinate with you.

There is a Clash between Lawyer and Yours Opinion

When a lawyer advises you to move on with a case in a certain way, but you don’t accept his proposal, he may get angry. When you ignore his advice, he’ll stop coordinating with you.

Anything Bad about the Case

Certain problems may occur during any case. A lawyer may fail to file your case according to the deadline, and now he’s trying to compensate for his fault, he’ll avoid communicating with you. This may also stop the lawyer from communicating with the client.

Lack of Lawyer’s Interest in the Case

If your lawyer is ignoring you or not helping you, he may not have an interest in your case. He’ll neither communicate with you physically nor take your phone calls in such a situation. This may also be a reason for a lawyer’s poor communication with the client.

What to Do When My Lawyer is Not Helping Me?

When you find your lawyer not interested in your case, do these preventive measurements promptly.

Try to Find Out the Reason

When you find your lawyer ignorant of your case, you’ll try to understand why he is acting like this. If you find some justifiable reason behind a lawyer’s lack of interest in your case, resolve that problem promptly. Otherwise, take the next step.

Take Your File Back

If your lawyer is not showing proper interest in your case, you can’t proceed with your case appropriately. In such a way, asking him to return your case file is wise thinking. So, ask your lawyer to return your case file so that you may proceed with your case someway.

Go For a New Lawyer

After getting your file back from a lawyer who is not interested in your case, search for another lawyer who can handle your case; after finding such a person, hand over the case to him and proceed with your case for some better hope.

Frequently Asked Questions

What to do if your lawyer is not doing his job?

If you find your lawyer ignorant of your case, find out the reason behind it, and start searching for a new lawyer for your case too.

Is it normal not to hear from your lawyer?

Remaining unaware of the case is not wisdom. One should coordinate with the lawyer during his case. So, it’s not normal to not hear from your lawyer.

Can you sue a lawyer for not doing their job?

Yes, you have the right to sue a lawyer for not doing his job when he’s repeatedly showing legal malpractice.

What is it called when a lawyer doesn’t do their job?

When a lawyer is not showing his performance for the client, this is regarded as legal malpractice in legal terms.

What is unethical for a lawyer?

Here are some factors that are considered unethical for a lawyer.

Showing a lack of interest in the case.
No communication with the client.
Charging extra fee.
Refusing the client without any justification.
Misguiding the client.
Hiding some facts about the case from the client.
Telling lies regarding the case.

Conclusion

From the above discussion, the importance of proper communication between the lawyer and the plaintiff is clear. Without proper coordination with the client, a lawyer can hardly succeed in the case. So, if you find that your lawyer is not helping you, try to find out the reason behind his ignorance. After finding out the reason, move on accordingly. Only this is the way to improve the legal proceeding of your case better.

References

BISHAL BHADRA

I’m a driven and accomplished law graduate and post-graduate, passionate about sharing my legal expertise via my blog. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Law from the University of London (UK) and a Master’s in Law from the University of Derby (UK). Both gave me the foundational knowledge and skills to excel in my chosen career path.
Throughout my academic journey, I have gained extensive knowledge in various fields of Law, including Corporate and Business Law in the USA, Criminal Law, International Law, US Copyright law, and most importantly, American Constitutional law.

Find more about me.