First of all you should talk to your attorney to make sure that you know what his or her efforts have been and give him or her the opportunity to explain any delays and whether those delays have been beyond his or her control. If you are having difficulty getting telephone calls returned, then speak to the attorney's secretary and request a specific time for a telephone conference or a personal appointment. If that fails, then send a letter to the attorney outlining your efforts to communicate and again request a telephone conference or an appointment. If that fails, you have now documented circumstances which may allow you to terminate the representation "for cause." (In other words, you have documented their failure to keep their part of the agreement.)

You can always terminate your attorney for any reason, but the reason for the termination may determine what rights the attorney has regarding the fee agreement that you signed when you hired him and how much he still expects to receive for the work already performed. Sometimes the attorney may willingly give up your case and allow you to retain another attorney, in which case you should request a letter from him setting forth any fees and/or costs he is requesting. Attorneys do not like to take cases where another attorney has been representing the client if there is the potential for a dispute over fees or costs claimed by the previous attorney. Also, this keeps you out of the position of being responsible for paying "double" attorneys fees.