What Ambulance Chasing Actually Is

Let me be direct. Ambulance chasing is when a lawyer — or someone working for a lawyer — solicits you in person or by phone at or near the time of an accident, injury, or crisis. It is not a metaphor. It happens in Georgia. It happens more than people think.

Under the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 7.3, a lawyer cannot initiate real-time contact with a prospective client — in person, by phone, or through a live agent — when the primary motivation is the lawyer’s financial gain. There are narrow exceptions for family members, close friends, and prior clients. A stranger handing you a business card in a hospital parking lot is not one of them.

Under Georgia law, using runners or cappers to solicit cases is a crime. O.C.G.A. § 33-24-53 makes it unlawful for any person to solicit or procure business for an attorney in connection with any personal injury claim. Violation is a misdemeanor. And the State Bar of Georgia takes it seriously. Lawyers have been disbarred for it.

If that is how you got your current attorney, that tells you everything you need to know about how they will handle your case.

Red Flags That Mean You Should Leave

Not every bad lawyer is an ambulance chaser. Some are just bad lawyers. Here are the signs.

Someone approached you at the accident scene, at the hospital, or at your home uninvited. You did not find the lawyer. The lawyer found you. A stranger — a tow truck driver, a medical transport worker, a person with no connection to your care — handed you a card or told you to call a specific attorney. That is a runner. That is illegal solicitation.

You signed paperwork before you had time to think. A good lawyer will never rush you into a contract while you are on a stretcher or sitting in a neck brace. If someone pushed papers on you within hours of your injury, that was not service. That was predatory.

Your lawyer will not return your calls. Days go by. Weeks. You leave messages and hear nothing. Your case is months old and you do not know what is happening. Communication is not a luxury. It is the bare minimum.

You have never spoken to the actual attorney. You signed up with a name on a billboard, but every conversation has been with a paralegal or a case manager. You have questions only a lawyer can answer. Nobody with a bar number will get on the phone.

Your case has not moved. No demand has gone out. No medical records have been requested. No investigation has been done. The file is collecting dust and nobody seems concerned. Meanwhile, the statute of limitations is still running.

Your lawyer pressures you to settle fast and low. They want to close the case. They are not interested in what your claim is actually worth. They want volume. They want turnover. They do not want to litigate. If your lawyer is pushing you toward a number that does not account for your future medical needs, your lost income, or the full scope of your pain, they are not fighting for you. They are managing you.

You feel like a file number, not a person. Trust that feeling. It is usually right.

Your Right to Fire Your Lawyer in Georgia

Georgia law gives every client the absolute right to discharge their attorney. This is grounded in the fiduciary nature of the attorney-client relationship. You are the principal. The lawyer is the agent. You can end it.

Here is what you need to know about the process.

You can terminate the relationship at any time. Put it in writing. A short letter or email is fine. State that you are terminating the representation effective immediately and that you want your complete file transferred to you or to your new attorney.

Your file belongs to you. Under Georgia law and the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, your attorney must promptly return your file upon termination. That includes medical records, correspondence, photos, police reports, expert materials, and anything else in the case file. They cannot hold your file hostage.

Your former lawyer may have a lien. If your attorney performed work on your case, they may assert an attorney’s lien for fees and costs under O.C.G.A. § 15-19-14. This does not prevent you from leaving. It means that when the case resolves, the former attorney may be entitled to a portion of the fee based on the work they performed. Your new attorney and former attorney will sort this out. It should not be a barrier to switching.

The contingency fee does not double. People worry about this. If you had a one-third contingency agreement with your first lawyer and you sign a one-third agreement with your new lawyer, you do not pay two-thirds. The total fee stays the same. The two attorneys divide the fee between them based on the work each performed. Georgia Rule of Professional Conduct 1.5(e) governs fee-splitting between lawyers. You do not pay more because you switched.

Your case does not start over. Your new lawyer picks up where the old one left off. The medical records, the investigation, the demand work — whatever has been done carries forward. A good lawyer will review everything, fill in the gaps, and move the case.