If your case is already in court, file a signed Substitution of Counsel before the next hearing, discovery deadline, or trial date. If no lawsuit has been filed yet, there is usually no court form - you switch by signing a new fee agreement and sending written notice ending the old one.

Before you know that, people in Waipahu often feel stuck. The old lawyer stops returning calls, the adjuster keeps pushing papers in English, and medical bills from places like The Queen's Medical Center start piling up during tax season. Many people think changing lawyers will "ruin" the case. It usually does not.

After you switch, what changes is control.

Your new lawyer gets your file, talks to the insurer, and takes over deadlines. If a lawsuit is already pending on Oahu, the filing usually goes through the First Circuit Court. If the old lawyer will not cooperate, the court may require a motion to withdraw or substitute counsel instead of a simple substitution.

What does not change is the main legal deadline. In Hawaii, most car accident injury lawsuits must still be filed within 2 years under HRS § 657-7. Switching lawyers does not restart that clock.

Fees usually do not double. In Hawaii, the old and new lawyers typically work out how to split one contingency fee based on the work each did. That should be explained in writing.

Do this before switching:

• Ask for a full copy of your file, bills, photos, and insurance letters
• Ask whether any PIP, lien, or court deadlines are coming up
• Confirm whether suit has already been filed
• Get the new fee agreement in a language you understand, or translated clearly

If your crash involved a service truck, rental car traffic near Honolulu, or a brake-failure wreck coming off roads like Likelike Highway, switching lawyers does not erase the evidence already collected. It just changes who is responsible for using it.