There are times when the CPLR does not provide a clear answer to even a straightforward question. One instance concerns the procedure for relieving counsel from representation when the client consents, but there is no incoming counsel. Under those circumstances, is it procedurally proper, or advisable, for an outgoing attorney to be allowed to simply file a Consent to Change Attorney signed by both the attorney and client indicating that the client will be self-represented? This issue bedevils practitioners and jurists alike, yet there appear to be no reported decisions, or even legal commentary,1 which consider it.
This article seeks to bring the issue out of the obscure recesses of court procedure and expose the ambiguity that exists under CPLR 321(b), which governs a change or withdrawal of an attorney. That section reads, in relevant part:
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