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Welcome to Family Law Matters. I’m Dr. Michael Mantell, and I’m privileged to be joining Bonnie Rabinovitch-Mantel, owner and managing partner of the Primus Family Law Group. Hi, Bonnie.

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Hi, Michael. How are you doing today? Bonnie, I’m doing terrific. Today, we’re going to talk about a topic that I know is very near and dear to you, and that is, can people in the middle of a divorce process decide to switch attorneys? Goodbye, Bonnie and Primus Family Law Group, or hello, Bonnie and Primus Family Law Group, in the middle of a divorce situation.

Can it be done, and what does it involve? You know, Michael, it’s a lot easier than a lot of people think, and people get scared because they’ve invested money, they’ve paid a retainer, they’ve invested time with an attorney, but that’s like sticking with a doctor that you don’t feel is serving your needs. This is a very important decision. This is a very important process, and if you’re not comfortable with your attorney, you have every right to switch.

There’s a form that you sign, the other attorney stops working, and you get to go and find another attorney who will review your case and take it from where they’ve left off. It happens to all of us, and we don’t take it personally, because what happens is either you don’t like the working style, or you guys have different ideas of how the case is going to work. It doesn’t always mean you think your attorney’s done a bad job.

It may be a personality conflict. Not everybody gets along, Michael. Same way with your doctor, or your therapist, or your life coach, or your dentist.

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You have to feel comfortable. What happens to the retainer? I paid another attorney a retainer. They’re holding thousands of dollars, and now I realize I want to go with somebody who is relentless and formidable.

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Primus Family Law Group, and I call you, and I say, look, he’s holding $5,000 of my money. Can I get that back? How does that work? Absolutely. If the money has not been used for valid work, it’s leftover retainer money.

Either it goes directly back to the client, or the client authorizes his former attorney to send it to his new attorney. Again, these are part of our rules of professional ethics. We can’t just keep it because we want to, so we have to give it back, and the process goes on.

It’s the same way if an attorney is holding proceeds. We’re often ordered to hold the proceeds of a house. You guys have sold your home.

You haven’t divided it yet. The proceeds are in our trust account, and you go ahead and find another attorney. You usually stipulate to have the money transferred to that new attorney’s trust fund.

In terms of the catch-up that the new attorney has to do, does that wind up costing the client more time and money? In most cases, the attorney has to review what’s been done. A lot of firms will bill their straight time to review, so does it cost you more to do that? Yes. Most firms feel that that’s valid because they’re catching up to speed, and they’re getting to know what’s happened, what you didn’t like, and what they can do better.

I can tell you that at Primus, we try to do that with judicious speed. We’re not looking at every single piece of paper. We look at what we need to get through what’s coming so that we can use your money more wisely.

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If people have questions about talking with you about switching attorneys, how can they reach you? They can always call us at 619-574-8000 or reach us at www.PrimusFamilyLaw.com. We do offer a free 30-minute phone consultation, and both methods will get you on our calendar to have that discussion, see how we can help you. Sounds terrific. Thank you very much for clarifying that so clearly for us.

Bonnie, have a good week. We’ll talk at the next edition of Family Law Matters. See you later, Michael.