Withdrawal from representation, in United States law, occurs where an attorney terminates a relationship of representing a client.
Where litigation has been filed and an attorney is representing the client in court, permission of the court must usually be sought in support of an attorney's withdrawal.
There are many circumstances which require that an attorney must withdraw from a case: An attorney may voluntarily terminate the attorney-client relationship at any time and without reason, if this will not have a material adverse effect on the interests of the client.
Even if the withdrawal will be adverse to the client the attorney may still withdraw for a number of reasons: Where the attorney withdraws from representation, he has a continuing duty to maintain the confidentiality of information provided by the client during the relationship, except to the extent that the attorney may need to reveal confidences in a lawsuit to recover unpaid fees owed.
The attorney must notify the client of the withdrawal prior to ceasing his work on the case, must make a reasonable effort to assist the client in obtaining new counsel, and must cooperate with that new counsel during the transition to the new representation.