You are entitled to refund of your retainer if the attorney has not performed the legal services that he or she agreed to provide you. If the attorney does not respond to your telephone calls, send him or her a letter. If that does not work, you should contact the State Bar.
What to Expect When You Hire a Lawyer
What is the average retainer for a lawyer? The retainer fee varies from the complexity of the case and the lawyer’s value. But you can expect to pay a retainer fee of $3000 and $5000. How to calculate the retainer fee? You are multiplying the number of hours by your hourly rate to calculate the retainer fee.
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The short answer is most likely Yes. However, there are potential reasons why an attorney might have the ability to keep a retainer. For example, is the case you hired the lawyer the type of case where there are numerous parties/defendants...
2 attorney answers Reasonably, it might take an attorney or law firm 30 to 45 days to prepare a final invoice and refund any balance left.
A lawyer cannot claim the retainer fee until they have completed work and provided an invoice to the client. The retainer is still the possession of the client until used for legitimate expenses as detailed in the retainer agreement. The amount in the trust account will not expire.
A retainer is typically a non-refundable payment made as part of a session's booking confirmation (in addition to a signed contract, stating the terms of your agreement.) Your photographer asks for this in exchange for them reserving their services for your specific date—meaning they're 100% yours!
The first three months are critical, and the teeth are most likely to shift during this stage. During this time, a week without your retainer may cause some minor shifting. Your retainer may feel a bit tighter on your teeth when you place it back in again.
Your teeth begin to shift if you don't wear retainers at night every day. If you go a week without wearing retainers, you may notice a small amount of relapse, small spaces, or rotations. If you go a month without wearing retainers, it's possible your bite may begin to change.
The teeth can often shift back into place when they are only slightly shifted. Once your teeth have settled into place more permanently, you may find that you can go a few days without wearing your retainers and they will still fit.
Retainers are designed to keep your teeth in place, choosing to not wear it for a long period of time will cause some issues. It's fine to miss a day or two because your teeth won't move much during that time. If you go without it much longer than that, then your teeth will start to shift again.
The language of the retainer agreement would control how much of a refund you would receive. The attorney would need to itemize his or her time and you would usually be entitled to a refund of the remaining portion of the retainer.
The implication of your inquiry is that the lawyer has been sitting on your case for 4 1/2 months with no reasonable explanation for the lawyer's inactivity. I am assuming that is so for purposes of providing an answer. If you have a right to demand a refund, you may have to ask for it.
If it is clearly a retainer fee, all unused portions of the retainer fee, at the end of the engagement, should be returned to the client. Talk to the attorney and ask them why the delay (if any) for the case. The attorney has an obligation to communicate with you if you reach out to that attorney.
Many attorneys will simply keep the entire $3,000 of your retainer fee. Thus, the difference of the $250 per hour or $2,000 for 8 hours leaves a balance of $1,000 not used on your behalf and not returned to you.
One of the ways of handling legal fees is for an attorney to charge an upfront amount called a “retainer” Just as the word “retainer” implies, this amount of money retains an attorney’s services until the retainer fee is used in full, Here it should be noted that many attorneys will keep the entire retainer amount whether, in the course of representation, the money is used entirely for your benefit or not.
But, it is often said attorneys charge an unreasonable amount for their services. Of course some do. However, if you understand the ways attorneys handle their fees, you can select an attorney who best suits your idea of fair dealing and you can often get an outstanding representation for a fair and reasonable fee.