Can I Fire or Change My Workers' Comp Lawyer?

Can I fire my workers' comp lawyer?

Yes. You are free to end the relationship with your current workers' comp attorney and hire a different one, or represent yourself, at any point in your case.

Nothing in California law locks an injured worker into the first attorney they hired. You do not need a dramatic reason. Feeling unheard, wanting a second opinion, or simply preferring a different approach is enough to look at your options.

The WCAB has two separate forms built for this exact situation. One lets you substitute a new attorney in place of your current one. The other lets you drop representation entirely and handle your own case for the time being. Both are described below.

If you are not sure whether you need an attorney at all, start with do I need a workers' comp lawyer in California before deciding whether to switch.

How do I switch workers' comp attorneys?

Line up a new attorney first, complete the WCAB's Substitution of Attorneys form, and file it in your case.

Workers usually consider a switch after a claim denial, a stalled treatment dispute, slow communication, or a general loss of trust. If the real problem is the claim decision itself rather than the attorney relationship, our guide on what to do after a workers' comp claim is denied in California may solve it faster than changing lawyers.

When a change in attorneys is the right move, the usual order looks like this:

1. Talk to a new attorney first. Most firms offer a free consultation, so your case is never left unwatched, even for a day.
2. Complete DWC/WCAB Form 36, Substitution of Attorneys. It names your former attorney and your new attorney, and carries your signature agreeing to the change.
3. Ask your former attorney to sign the same form. It is written for both attorneys to consent to the switch.
4. File the signed form with the WCAB district office handling your case, and serve a copy on the opposing party or its attorney, as the form itself requires.
5. If you are not hiring a new attorney right away, file DWC/WCAB Form 37, Notice of Dismissal of Attorney, instead, and tell the board to send your mail directly to you.

A former attorney who will not sign the substitution form cannot trap you in the relationship. Filing Form 37 first ends it without needing their signature. A new attorney can then step into the case once you have hired one.

What is a substitution of attorney?

A substitution of attorney is the WCAB's own form for swapping one attorney for another on an open case.

The board's form, DWC/WCAB Form 36, is short and specific. You sign it. The outgoing attorney and the incoming attorney both sign it too, consenting to the change. A copy goes to every other party or attorney already in the case. Once it is filed, the new attorney becomes the attorney of record, and the case continues in front of the same board.

The board's companion form covers a different situation: dropping an attorney with no replacement named yet.

Both forms exist because the WCAB needs to know, at all times, exactly who represents you and where to send case documents. Filing the right one keeps hearing notices, claim mail, and deadlines going to the correct address.

Do I pay two fees if I switch?

No. Switching attorneys does not add a second full fee on top of the first. California caps the attorney's fee in your case at one reasonable amount, and only a workers' comp judge can approve it.

Under Labor Code section 4906, an attorney cannot collect a fee from you until the WCAB approves it, and the judge weighs the responsibility the attorney took on, the care used, the time spent, and the result reached. See our Labor Code 4906 guide for the full rule. The fee request in a workers' comp case is usually 15% to 18% of what you recover, and that figure is what the judge reviews, not a separate charge layered on for each attorney who touched the file.

If your former attorney put real work into your case before you switched, they can ask the board to protect that work with a lien under Labor Code section 4903, rather than asking for a brand new fee. The judge then decides how the one approved fee is divided between your former and current attorney, based on what each one actually did. You are not billed twice for the same work; the division happens inside the fee the judge already controls. See our attorney fee lien guide for how that works, and our workers' comp attorney cost guide for the general fee breakdown.

Will changing lawyers delay my case?

Not if you act quickly. Filing the paperwork to change attorneys is usually fast; the real risk is leaving your case unwatched while a hearing or deadline gets close.

Your case keeps moving on its own schedule. Hearings, treatment disputes, and claim deadlines do not pause while you are between attorneys. The safer order is to line up your new attorney before you let the old one go, so nobody is left watching your file.

If you already filed Form 37 and have not hired anyone new, tell the WCAB right away so hearing notices and claim mail come straight to you. A new attorney also needs time to read your file and medical records before a hearing, so switching weeks ahead of a scheduled date is far easier on your case than switching the week of one.

Talking to a different workers' comp attorney

A short conversation with another attorney costs nothing and can tell you quickly whether a switch is worth making.

You do not need to badmouth your current attorney to explore other options, and talking with a new attorney is not an accusation against the old one. Workers change attorneys for all kinds of reasons, including ones that have nothing to do with the quality of the work already done.

Yazdchi Law P.C. is based in Palmdale and represents injured workers across California. If you are weighing a change, call (661) 273-1780 for a free consultation or reach out through the contact form. The firm reviews each matter individually before deciding whether taking on a case makes sense.