Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New York

Re: lawyer trouble

you should definitely get the retainer back, if they did no work and are tranfering you due to a conflict. They should have used due diligence to check for conflicts.

Re: lawyer trouble

These things can happen. Should the attorneys have done a more thorough conflicts check? Yes. But as long as they bow out of the case and seise representing anyone else in the case you have not been prejudiced. I would cooperate with the attorneys and insist that a) they help you find competent new counsel and b) that they do not represent anyone else in the case. If your case is not prejudiced, I would forgive them we all make mistakes.

Re: lawyer trouble

While I agree in part with the previous answers, there are a few more details necessary to fully analyze your situation.

How did the conflict arise? Did the law firm you hired merge or take on a new attorney during the period of time your case was being handled? Did the lawyers discover that another individual or company (one of their clients) was possibly liable for some of the damages? Or was this something they should have picked up at the beginning of the case?

Without knowing those details, it's impossible to advise you as to whether they should have found the conflict earlier, and thus impossible to advise you as to whether you're entitled to any credit on your retainer.