Re: Motion to Withdraw as atty vs. substitute attorney
The motion will not automatically put a hold on your case and probably will not help you get one even if you ask for it. I see no benefit at all to you from letting this happen, but with more information I might see things differently.
Such a motion would probably cause you some serious problems. Your current lawyer would likely not be eager to make other motions or conduct discovery on your behalf while the motion is pending, and your new attorney would not be able to do so either until he officially enters the case. Instead of getting you extra time, it would thus cost you some of the time you now have.
Another problem is that your current lawyer is going to want to hold on to the file while the motion is pending, thus keeping the new lawyer from getting up to speed on the case.
Assuming your attorney's motion would be granted, it would make you a party in pro per. He would still have to file a substitution of attorney in order to get the new lawyer on board. And if his motion is denied, you will be stuck with an attorney who doesn't want to be on the case rather than the one you want take over. (The new lawyer can still substitute in, of course, but it will look suspicious to change lawyers right after winning a fight to keep the one you have.)
Another point to keep in mind is that the motion to withdraw may make you look bad to the judge. It will suggest either that your relationship with your lawyer has broken down or that you have run out of money to pay him and are unwilling to accept that reality. Some judges won't care about this, but others will and there's no way to tell how your judge will react.
