Fla. Bar No. 1048733 · Former judicial clerk, Fourth Judicial Circuit
Last reviewed October 2026
Can I switch personal injury lawyers in the middle of my case?
Yes. You can switch personal injury attorneys in Florida at any point, and you don't have to stay with a firm that won't return your calls or explain your case.
This matters most if your case has been sitting for months, if only a case manager talks to you, or if you suspect evidence or insurance coverage has been missed.
Does it cost anything to switch personal injury attorneys?
In most personal injury cases, it costs nothing out of pocket.
Personal injury cases are usually handled on a contingency fee, which means the fee comes from the recovery, not from hourly payments. If you switch, your prior attorney may claim a fee for work done before the switch, but that does not mean you write a check.
The Florida Supreme Court set the rule in Rosenberg v. Levin, 409 So. 2d 1016 (Fla. 1982). A lawyer discharged from a contingency-fee case "can recover only the reasonable value of his services rendered prior to discharge, limited by the maximum contract fee." Id. at 1021. That claim "arises only upon the successful occurrence of the contingency," and "[i]f the client fails in his recovery, the discharged attorney will similarly fail and recover nothing." Id. at 1022. The Court explained that the cap is "necessary to provide client freedom to substitute attorneys without economic penalty." Id. at 1020.
How much of the fee the prior lawyer gets is decided on the totality of the circumstances. Searcy, Denney, Scarola, Barnhart & Shipley, P.A. v. Poletz, 652 So. 2d 366, 369 (Fla. 1995). Florida courts continue to apply Rosenberg today.
At my firm, if your prior attorney claims a fee, it comes out of the attorney-fee portion, not from additional money paid by you.
Do I have to tell my old lawyer I am switching?
No. Once you hire me, my office notifies your prior attorney, requests your file, and handles any fee issue.
The correspondence is handled professionally and amicably. You don't have to argue with your old attorney, explain yourself to a case manager, or be pressured into staying.
A prior firm may bring up liens or fees. That shouldn't be used to scare you into staying. Florida law already accounts for this situation.
Why do people switch personal injury lawyers?
Most often because they can't reach an attorney, their case isn't moving, or no one can explain what's happening.
- They can't speak with an attorney, only a case manager.
- Their calls are ignored, and they don't know the status of the case.
- No one has explained the insurance coverage, UM, or MedPay.
- Evidence wasn't preserved.
- The case has been sitting too long, or a demand went out too early.
- They feel like a number.
Related: stuck talking to a case manager? and why is my case taking so long?
What happens after I switch to Attorney Albert?
I demand your file, review everything in it, and look for what is missing.
That includes the police or incident report, insurance policies, medical records and bills, photos and video, demand letters, settlement offers, liens, health insurance, MedPay, and UM coverage. Then I look for gaps: video that was never requested, witnesses never contacted, preservation letters never sent, policy disclosures never obtained.
My case-review system lets me organize the file quickly, so I can step in as if I had been there from the start.
Can waiting to switch hurt my case?
Yes. Evidence disappears, coverage can be missed, and settlement talks may happen before the full value of the case is known.
Florida's Third District recognized that once a store received a presuit letter specifically asking it to keep its surveillance video, it was obligated to preserve that video. Pena v. Bi-Lo Holdings, LLC, 304 So. 3d 1254 (Fla. 3d DCA 2020). When a defendant loses evidence, the remedies are handled inside the injury case itself. Martino v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 908 So. 2d 342 (Fla. 2005). The sooner an attorney sends the right letters, the better.
Common questions
Can I switch personal injury attorneys in Florida?
Yes. The Florida Supreme Court limits what a discharged contingency-fee lawyer can recover specifically "to provide client freedom to substitute attorneys without economic penalty." Rosenberg v. Levin, 409 So. 2d 1016 (Fla. 1982), at 1020.
Does it cost money to switch personal injury attorneys?
Usually, no. A discharged contingency-fee attorney may seek only the reasonable value of work done before discharge, capped by the contract fee, and if you recover nothing, the discharged attorney recovers nothing.
Do I have to tell my old lawyer I am switching firms?
No. Once you hire me, my office notifies your prior attorney, requests your file, and begins reviewing your case.
What if my old attorney claims a fee?
At my firm, it's handled from the attorney-fee portion, not by asking you to pay extra out of pocket.
This page is general information about Florida law, not legal advice for your situation.