A federal judge in Massachusetts sided with an attorney looking to remove herself as counsel after years of litigation, despite her client’s attempts to bar her departure.
In a Tuesday ruling, U.S. Magistrate Judge M. Page Kelley granted a request from a solo practitioner, Lindsay M. Straus, for leave to withdraw as counsel to the plaintiff Richard P. Taylor. Her motion came nearly a year after judgment was rendered in an underlying dispute between her client and another real estate developer, Erik V. Grunigen. Straus argued her withdrawal would have no materially adverse effect on Taylor since there are no pending motions, that there is a fundamental disagreement with Taylor regarding the course of action in the suit, that continued representation would financially burden Straus, and that Taylor made continued representation “unreasonably difficult.” Both Taylor and Grunigen opposed the motion.