My lawyer's office keeps telling me to be patient — what am I entitled to ask for?

Attorney Answer

A client is entitled to know what is happening in their own case. You can ask your lawyer for a written status of the matter, for a copy of your file and of the agreement you signed, and for the date by which your claim must be brought — and you can decide to take the case to a different lawyer. None of that requires you to know the law, and asking for it is normal, not hostile.

One thing first: your note does not say what kind of accident this was. That matters more than it sounds, because New York does not have one deadline for everything, and the difference between them is measured in years:

Most personal-injury claims fall under CPLR 214(5), which allows three years for "an action to recover damages for a personal injury except as provided in sections 214-b, 214-c, 214-i and 215". A claim for medical, dental or podiatric malpractice falls under CPLR 214-a instead — two years and six months, measured from the act complained of or from the last treatment where there is continuous treatment for the same condition. A claim against a city, county, town, village, school district or transit authority is shorter still: General Municipal Law § 50-e(1)(a) requires a notice of claim within ninety days after the claim arises — a period a court may extend in some circumstances under General Municipal Law § 50-e(5) — and General Municipal Law § 50-i(1)(c) requires that "the action or special proceeding shall be commenced within one year and ninety days after the happening of the event upon which the claim is based; except that wrongful death actions shall be commenced within two years after the happening of the death". And a claim for an intentional wrong such as an assault falls under CPLR 215's one-year period.

When you have a lawyer, meeting that deadline is the lawyer's responsibility, not yours. But you are entitled to be told which one applies to your case and whether anything has been done about it, and "it takes time" is not that answer.

Slow is also not the same as wrong. Serious claims often move quietly for long stretches — while treatment continues, while records are gathered, while an insurer evaluates. What a client should be able to get, at any point, is a plain description of what stage the case is at and what the next step is.

A lawyer who does not want to keep working with you cannot hold your file hostage, and you can change counsel. A firm that has done work on the case may claim a share of any eventual recovery for that work; how that is worked out between an old firm and a new one is handled between the lawyers and does not ordinarily increase the total fee you pay. That arrangement is a matter of professional practice rather than of statute.

What you can do

1. Send a short written request — email is fine — asking for a written status of the matter and the name of the attorney responsible for it, and keep a copy.

2. Ask directly, in that same message, what the deadline for your claim is and whether anything has been commenced.

3. Ask for a copy of the retainer or fee agreement you signed, and a copy of your file.

4. Ask for copies of what has been sent to and received from any insurer.

5. Keep a dated log of every call and message, and who you spoke to.

6. If the answers do not come, take the file to a different New York attorney for a second opinion — most will review it without charge.

⏱ Time limits apply. Which statute governs your claim depends on what kind of accident it was and who is responsible: CPLR 214(5) for most personal injury, CPLR 214-a for medical, dental or podiatric malpractice, CPLR 215 for an intentional tort, and General Municipal Law §§ 50-e(1)(a) and 50-i(1)(c) where a public corporation is involved. Each runs from a starting point tied to your own facts. Because this page cannot tell which applies to you, have a New York attorney confirm it directly — this page does not calculate dates, and no date in your message has been treated as one.