You can switch lawyers in Vermont, even in the middle of the case.

That part is simple.

The ugly part is everything attached to it: your file, your retainer, the fee split between old and new counsel, and whether anyone has actually pushed the workers' comp carrier on the surgery denial.

If you're in Bennington and a delivery truck backed out of a loading dock onto a public street and hit you, there are usually two tracks moving at once. One is workers' comp if you were on the clock. The other is a third-party injury claim against the delivery company and driver. Those are not the same case, and a lawyer who lets one sit while the comp insurer stalls your treatment is doing real damage.

The surgery denial is the first red flag

Here's what most people don't realize: when workers' comp in Vermont denies authorization for surgery your doctor recommends, the delay itself can wreck the case.

Not just medically.

Legally too.

If you're a physical therapist or a construction worker who has to be on your feet all day, a denied surgery can drag out wage loss, keep you half-treated, and give the insurer room to say you're not as hurt as you claim. Meanwhile, your third-party truck case against the delivery company is building or falling apart based on records, restrictions, lost income, and whether someone preserved evidence from the loading dock, the truck, and the street.

In Bennington, that could mean a dock off a downtown commercial block, a tight side street, bad sight lines, mud-season pavement broken up by frost heaves, and a driver claiming you came out of nowhere. Vermont uses modified comparative fault. If they can pin 51% or more of the blame on you, you recover nothing on the truck claim. So if your lawyer has gone quiet while the defense builds that story, that's not a harmless delay.

Yes, you can fire your lawyer

You do not need your current lawyer's permission to move on.

Usually, the new lawyer has you sign a substitution form or a letter ending the relationship, then requests the file. That file should include medical records, correspondence with the comp adjuster, any denial letters, witness information, insurance details, photographs, and notes about deadlines.

If the case "feels stalled," look for concrete signs:

• calls and emails ignored for weeks
• no action on the surgery denial
• no clear answer on whether a comp hearing or appeal was requested
• no investigation into the delivery company, truck owner, dock camera footage, or driver logs
• you still don't know whether there's a third-party claim separate from comp

One or two bad weeks is one thing. Months of fog is different.

The retainer usually follows the work, not your loyalty

People hear "contingency fee" and think switching lawyers means paying two full lawyers.

That's not usually how it works.

In most injury cases, the total attorney fee still comes out of the same recovery, and the old and new lawyers fight over how to divide it based on who did what. If the first lawyer did almost nothing but sign you up and collect records, that matters. If they actually took depositions, hired experts, or forced movement on the comp side, that matters too.

If you paid an upfront retainer for a comp matter, any unused portion should be accounted for. If there's a dispute, that becomes its own argument. A decent replacement lawyer will want to see the fee agreement before taking over, because nobody wants a surprise brawl over money after settlement.

The real issue is whether anyone is steering both parts of the case

This is where people get burned.

Workers' comp is about medical treatment and wage benefits. The truck claim is about fault and damages against the delivery company or driver. One can affect the other. If comp paid some benefits, it may want reimbursement from any third-party recovery. If comp denied surgery, that denial can squeeze you into taking less than the case is worth because you're desperate, missing shifts, and trying to keep your kids on the union insurance.

A new lawyer needs to answer, fast, what has been done about the surgery denial in Vermont's workers' comp system and what has been done to preserve the truck case in Bennington County.

Not in vague terms.

Actual dates. Actual filings. Actual requests.

Don't wait for "one more week"

If your current lawyer keeps saying the same thing - "we're waiting," "these things take time," "I'll get back to you" - ask for the file and the status in writing.

Because deadlines do not care that your lawyer was hard to reach.

And neither does the insurer.

Bennington is not some giant city where your case disappears into endless bureaucracy. Vermont is small. Montpelier is the smallest state capital in the country. Lawyers, adjusters, employers, and carriers all know each other. That can make cases move faster when someone is pushing. It can also mean a stalled case stays stalled if nobody is applying pressure.

If the surgery recommendation is sitting there denied and nobody has clearly explained the next move, the bigger mistake is staying put just because you already signed once.