Asked 8/15/2016 – Bryan, TX

My attorney is court appointed however I don’t feel as if he is even representing me. He didn’t show up to my court hearing so it had to be rescheduled, he won’t return my calls, he won’t meet me in person so I don’t even know what my attorney looks like, he hasn’t talked to me about my case or anything pertaining to how the process of court proceedings work. The only thing he has done is send me a questionnaire in the mail with a letter that said to fill it out and bring it with me to the court hearing he wasn’t even there for. Is this grounds for me to ask for a new court appointed attorney?

Answer

You have the right to request a different attorney be appointed to represent you, but it is within the court’s discretion to either grant or deny your request. I don’t know from what you describe if a Judge will grant your request or not. It does not sound like anything wrong has occurred; you just do not feel comfortable or confident in the process or with your attorney. You may never get a warm fuzzy feeling with any attorney appointed to represent you, so you may want to start talking with private attorneys about retaining their services.