To handle a California substitution of attorney, you file Form MC-050 with the court clerk when your current lawyer, your new lawyer, and you all sign off, and you move the court under Code of Civil Procedure Section 284 when someone won’t consent. Either way, the other side has to be served with written notice before the change binds anyone but you.
The Two Paths Under Code of Civil Procedure 284
Section 284 sets out the entire framework. Path one is consent: the client and the attorney agree, a written substitution is filed with the clerk or entered in the court minutes, and no judge has to sign anything. Path two is a court order, used when either the client or the attorney applies to the court after giving notice to the other. That second path exists for the situations where cooperation has already broken down.1California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 284
Section 285 layers on a requirement that catches people off guard: written notice of the change must go to the opposing party. Until that happens, the other side can keep dealing with your former attorney as if nothing changed, and the court will treat that old lawyer as your counsel of record.
Filing Form MC-050 When Everyone Agrees
The consent form is the Substitution of Attorney—Civil, Form MC-050. It needs three signatures: the client, the outgoing attorney, and the incoming attorney. If you are moving to self-representation rather than hiring someone new, you and your departing attorney sign, and you list yourself as appearing in propria persona.2California Courts. MC-050 Substitution of Attorney-Civil (Without Court Order)
Page two of the form is a proof of service. Someone 18 or older who is not a party mails a copy to every other party listed and signs the original. You file the signed original with the court clerk. No filing fee applies. Once the clerk stamps it, the new attorney (or you) becomes counsel of record.3Judicial Branch of California. Remove or Add an Attorney to Your Case
Speed matters. Until MC-050 is on file, your former attorney is still the lawyer on record, and court notices, discovery requests, and hearing dates keep going to that person. Filing promptly is what keeps deadlines from slipping through the transition.
When Your Attorney Wants Out and You Won’t Consent
If an attorney wants to withdraw and the client either refuses to consent or cannot be located, the lawyer has to move the court. California Rules of Court, Rule 3.1362, requires three forms filed together:
- MC-051, the notice of motion and motion, directed to the client.
- MC-052, a declaration explaining in general terms, without breaching confidentiality, why a consent-based substitution wasn’t possible.
- MC-053, the proposed order.
All three must be served on the client and every other party who has appeared. If the attorney serves the client by mail, the motion has to include a declaration confirming the mailing address was verified within 30 days before filing. Showing that an earlier letter wasn’t returned as undeliverable does not meet the standard.4Judicial Branch of California. Rule 3.1362 Motion to Be Relieved as Counsel
The judge weighs whether withdrawal would harm the client, especially if trial or a critical hearing is near. Motions get denied when the timing would leave the client stranded.
Rule of Professional Conduct 1.16 governs when an attorney can or must leave. Mandatory withdrawal applies when continuing would violate ethical rules, when the client is pursuing litigation to harass, when the attorney’s mental or physical condition makes effective representation unreasonably difficult, or when the client fires them. Permissive withdrawal covers frivolous or fraudulent conduct by the client, unpaid fees after warning, and a relationship that has deteriorated past the point of effective representation. In every case, the attorney must take reasonable steps to protect the client before stepping away, and where court permission is required, they cannot leave until they have it.5The State Bar of California. California Rule of Professional Conduct 1.16
Serving the Other Side After You File
Filing with the clerk is half the job. Under Section 285, written notice has to reach the opposing party. Service by mail goes to the last address on file; service is complete when the document is mailed, but response deadlines get extended to account for delivery. Personal service requires a non-party aged 18 or older to hand-deliver the documents. Electronic service works only if the receiving party has affirmatively consented under California Rules of Court, Rule 2.251, to a specific electronic service address.6Judicial Branch of California. Rule 2.251 Electronic Service
After service, the corresponding proof of service form has to be filed: POS-020 for personal service, POS-030 for mail, POS-050 for electronic. Without proof on file, the court may not recognize the substitution, and your old attorney will still show as counsel of record in the case management system.7California Courts. POS-020 Proof of Personal Service-Civil
Changing Lawyers in a Criminal Case
Criminal cases don’t use the civil substitution form, and the rules split based on whether your lawyer was appointed or retained.
Court-Appointed Counsel: The Marsden Hearing
If you have a public defender or court-appointed attorney, you ask the court for a Marsden hearing and show that the attorney-client relationship has broken down badly enough that effective representation isn’t possible. The recognized grounds are a fundamental conflict of interest, a complete breakdown in communication, or specific failures in preparation or competence.8Stanford Law School – Robert Crown Law Library. People v. Marsden
The hearing happens outside the prosecution’s presence to protect confidential communications. General dissatisfaction or a disagreement over strategy is not enough. The court looks for something that actually impairs the defense, and denials can be reviewed on appeal for abuse of discretion.
Retained Counsel: People v. Ortiz
If you hired the lawyer, you don’t have to prove incompetence. Under People v. Ortiz, you can discharge retained counsel for any reason, as long as the change won’t cause significant prejudice to you or unreasonable disruption to the court. Whether you will end up needing appointed counsel isn’t a factor the court can weigh against you.9Stanford Law School – Robert Crown Law Library. People v. Ortiz
Timing decides most of these motions. A request months before trial rarely draws objection. One filed a week out, requiring a continuance and rescheduled witnesses, will meet real resistance, and the judge will press the incoming attorney about familiarity with discovery and case strategy before approving the switch.
What Your Former Attorney Owes You
Rule 1.16(d) requires the outgoing attorney to take reasonable steps to protect your interests, which includes returning your papers and property and refunding any advanced fees not yet earned.5The State Bar of California. California Rule of Professional Conduct 1.16
Your File
California does not let attorneys hold your file hostage over unpaid bills. Retaining liens on client papers and property are not allowed. The State Bar’s Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility has confirmed that while an attorney may create a charging lien against a future settlement or judgment, there is no authority to withhold the case file as leverage. The rule traces to Academy of California Optometrists v. Superior Court (1975).10The State Bar of California. State Bar of California Formal Opinion 2006-170
Your outgoing attorney has to hand the file over promptly so your new lawyer can get up to speed. Foot-dragging is both an ethical violation and a practical problem, because the new lawyer can’t prepare without it.
Unearned Fees
Any retainer or advanced fee that hasn’t been earned through actual work has to be refunded promptly. The rule doesn’t set a specific number of days; the standard is what’s reasonable under the circumstances. If the attorney did substantial work, they keep fees for that work. What they can’t do is pocket a $10,000 retainer when only $3,000 of work was done. Disputes over earned versus unearned fees can go to fee arbitration with the State Bar.
If You’re Not Hiring a Replacement
You still use Form MC-050. You sign as the party, your departing attorney signs, and you indicate that you’ll appear in propria persona (often shortened to “in pro per”). The same service and filing steps apply.3Judicial Branch of California. Remove or Add an Attorney to Your Case
Once you’re self-represented, notices come directly to you. Deadlines don’t pause while you learn the rules. Discovery obligations continue. Hearing dates don’t change. If you later hire a new lawyer, another MC-050 puts them on record.
Business entities have less flexibility. In California, corporations and LLCs generally cannot represent themselves in court, and a non-lawyer officer or employee appearing for the company is treated as unauthorized practice of law. CLD Construction v. City of San Ramon (2004) reaffirmed that corporate parties have to appear through a licensed attorney. If your company’s lawyer withdraws, you need replacement counsel; the case effectively stalls until one appears.
Last-Minute Substitutions and What Courts Won’t Approve
Most consent-based substitutions clear without comment. Scrutiny goes up when the substitution is close to trial or looks like a delay tactic. Judges consider whether the new attorney can realistically step in without asking for a continuance, how far discovery has progressed, and whether the party has already switched lawyers before. An incoming attorney who accepts the case two weeks out and immediately requests a six-month continuance will not get a warm reception.
In criminal cases, speedy trial rights raise the stakes. A defendant who waives time and then seeks a substitution that would push trial past the statutory deadline gives the court every reason to deny the motion. The Ortiz test is whether the change would create unreasonable disruption to the orderly processes of justice.9Stanford Law School – Robert Crown Law Library. People v. Ortiz
What Happens If You Skip a Step
The most common mistake is treating the substitution as a formality and not filing it, or not filing it promptly. When that happens, the court still treats your prior attorney as counsel of record. Orders, motions, and hearing notices go to someone who may no longer be tracking your case. Missed deadlines follow, and in the worst outcomes, default judgments or dismissed defenses.
Attorneys face their own exposure. Withdrawing without court permission when it’s required can trigger discipline through the State Bar of California. Courts can also impose monetary sanctions on attorneys or parties who use last-minute substitution requests as delay tactics.5The State Bar of California. California Rule of Professional Conduct 1.16
For the client, the real risk is the gap between lawyers. Representation doesn’t pause while you shop. If a response deadline lands during that gap and nobody files, the consequences land on you. Before filing a substitution, either have replacement counsel lined up or know exactly what deadlines are coming while you’re handling things yourself.