Any Lawyers???

Whether your lawyer gets any money if you fire him depends on the retainer agreement you have with the lawyer. Read over the terms of that very carefully. I'm assuming this is a contingency relationship?

Lawsuits do not get filed over night. Most people do NOT realize how much time it takes to get everything in order... and further don't realize how slow the courts are once it is filed. It could take years after it is filed to see any money - particularly if there are appeals. HOWEVER, NO ONE can predict how quickly a lawsuit will be resolved / go to court / etc. Courts are slow, slow, slow and backed up. Civil cases get pushed back to make room for criminal cases, which must be tried expediently (though - uh - I think that's a liberal interpretation that word usually).

THAT SAID, there are relevant statutes of limitations applying to malpractice cases (and depending on the nature of the suit this varies, usually from 3 years to 6 years), so the lawsuit must be filed before the statute of limitations is up. Ask your lawyer what that is and when s/he expects the lawsuit to be filed.

ETA - I do NOT do any sort of malpractice / tort / personal injury law at all. I do only corporate intellectual property law.