My PI lawyer basically ghosted me mid-case — do I have grounds for a bar complaint?

I went through something almost identical — rear-end, clear liability, and an attorney who basically fell off the face of the earth. I ended up switching lawyers about four months in. The new one got more done in six weeks than the first one did in the entire time I was with them. You can fire your attorney. It feels scary but honestly it was the best decision I made in my whole claim process.

A few things worth knowing: First, you have the right to terminate representation at any time — your new attorney typically handles any fee split with the old one, so it usually doesn't cost you extra out of pocket. Second, state bar associations do take communication complaints seriously; failure to keep a client reasonably informed is actually an ethics rule violation in most states, not just bad customer service. Third — and this is urgent — look up your state's statute of limitations for personal injury and make sure you know exactly where you stand on that clock. Don't rely on your current attorney to tell you.

The billing confusion with your PIP carrier is a red flag to me. Sometimes when an attorney's office goes quiet it's because they're juggling way too many cases and yours isn't "big" enough to get attention. Your medical records gap could actually hurt your case down the line — insurers love to argue that treatment delays mean the injuries weren't that serious. Don't let that narrative build.

From the other side of the desk: gaps in treatment records are one of the first things adjusters flag when valuing a claim. If your attorney's office stopped responding to records requests, that creates a documentation hole that will absolutely be used against you. I'm not saying your injuries aren't real — I'm saying the paper trail matters enormously and someone needs to be on top of it. Sounds like that person isn't your current attorney.

The part about your PT getting disrupted because of billing chaos — that concerns me from a pure recovery standpoint. Herniated discs and a labrum tear both respond much better to consistent, uninterrupted rehab. Gaps in physical therapy aren't just frustrating, they can set back your actual healing. Please try to keep going even if you have to work out the billing stuff afterward, and document every single session and every gap caused by this mess.

Fire the lawyer. Today if possible. Three-word email replies and a month of ignored voicemails is not someone working hard for you. The bar complaint can come later — right now your priority is protecting your claim before the statute clock becomes a real problem.

Quick question — when you say 'crickets,' how many times did you actually reach out before concluding they were unresponsive? And was anything in your retainer agreement about communication timelines? Not dismissing your experience at all, just wondering if there's any chance there's a miscommunication about expectations versus actual neglect, because the answer changes what your options look like.