:mad: have a friend who was in a auto accident in oct and they got a lawer in dec. and now they fired the lawyer yesterday and was told today that they lawyer is still in title to 1/3 of anything they might get out of the accident what can my friend do about this my friend asked the lawyer for a statement of how much they owed them so they could pay the lawyer but the lawyer wouldn't give them a statement... please help!!

Your friend must have signed some kind of contingency agreement with this lawyer for him to be saying this. Usually an attorney will take personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis to collect their fees at the conclusion of the case when any monetary award or settlement is reached. If they get another attorney involved in the case, that 2nd attorney will have to settle for less of a fee unless he negotiates with the first attorney for a different amount. Basically, your friend should have shopped around before signing anything with a personal injury attorney. Finding another attorney willing to take the case now that there is attorney #1 already there with his signed agreement is not going to be so easy. It can be done, but it won't be easy.