How does my old lawyer get paid if I switch attorneys during a Georgia injury case?

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When a client changes lawyers mid-case, the former attorney is generally paid the reasonable value of the work already done, not the full contingency percentage. Georgia handles this through the doctrine of quantum meruit, which compensates the discharged lawyer for services rendered while protecting the client from paying a full fee twice.

Quantum meruit, not the contract percentage

A discharged attorney who was working under a contingency agreement before the case ended cannot collect the agreed percentage as a contract right, because the contingency, the recovery, had not occurred when the representation ended. Instead, Georgia allows the former lawyer to recover in quantum meruit: the reasonable value of the services actually performed for the client. A court determining that value can consider factors such as the work done, the benefit it provided to the case, and the size of any recovery the client ultimately obtains. The result is a fee tied to the lawyer’s actual contribution rather than to the headline percentage.

When the old lawyer gets paid

The former lawyer’s claim is typically resolved out of the eventual recovery, not paid by the client up front at the moment of the switch. To secure that claim, the discharged attorney may assert a lien on the client’s recovery for the value of the services and any advanced case expenses. When the case later settles or wins, the prior lawyer’s quantum meruit share and expenses are accounted for during distribution before the client’s net is finalized. If the case never produces a recovery, there may be nothing from which a contingency-based quantum meruit fee is paid, though advanced expenses are governed by the original agreement.

How it fits with the new lawyer

The new attorney handles the case forward under a new fee agreement. The two lawyers’ claims on the recovery are then sorted out so the total the client pays in attorney fees is not doubled. A few points usually frame this:

  • The former lawyer recovers reasonable value for past work, often secured by a lien.
  • The new lawyer is paid under the new agreement for work going forward.
  • The client should not bear two full contingency fees for the same recovery.

The bottom line

In Georgia, an old lawyer is paid through quantum meruit, the reasonable value of services rendered, usually out of the eventual recovery and often secured by a lien, rather than through the original contingency percentage. That approach pays the prior attorney fairly for genuine work while sparing the client from paying a complete fee to two lawyers for one result.

This article is for general educational and informational purposes only and is not legal advice. It does not create an attorney-client relationship, and Georgia law may change. For advice about a specific situation, consult a licensed Georgia personal injury attorney.

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