Lawyer Retainer Fee's - Update

I needed a lawyer in 2008. He charged me a retainer of $3500.00/ hourly charge of $350 per hour to be credited towards the retainer.

If he did not use those 10 hours am I due a credit or not?

***UPDATE*** at bottom

Message edited 8/12/2010 4:23:34 PM.

Re: Lawyer Retainer Fee's

Hmm...I'm sure they would use the full 10 hours. Do you have proof he didn't? I am sure a lawyer would find a way to use the full amount of hours but I'm not sure

Re: Lawyer Retainer Fee's

Likely, yes, but it depends on the retainer agreement you signed... Refer to that. It should deal with unused portions of the retainer.

Re: Lawyer Retainer Fee's

It doesn't say anything about unused portions. I asked him to send me a breakdown back then and he never did. Then I got married and totally forgot about it until recently.

Message edited 8/11/2010 6:39:38 PM.

Re: Lawyer Retainer Fee's

I'm a lawyer and that set up sounds fishy - he should have sent you an itemized bill/invoice or receipt showing exactly how many hours he spent on your matter and what the hourly rate was for those tasks. I know some small law firms have different hourly rates for specific tasks, so if he actually went to court - he may have just used up 4 hours and then used up the remainder of the retainer.
But I would def call or write him a letter asking him for a detailed invoice!

Re: Lawyer Retainer Fee's

Re: Lawyer Retainer Fee's

I had retained a lawyer for my daughter when we switched school districts. (She is special needs and I was anticipating a bit of a battle).

We didn't come close to using the retainer and I received a itemized bill, with a check for the remaining amount.

Re: Lawyer Retainer Fee's

I requested one but never received it. I'm going to email his asst today. I just hope it's not too late, this was 2 years ago. I can't believe I forgot about it. It was a small matter that didnt require court. Basically he made a few phone calls and typed a few letters. It was a joke!

Re: Lawyer Retainer Fee's - Update

This was the response I got from his asst:

Unfortunately at this time all closed files from 2008 -2009 are in storage out of the office

Re: Lawyer Retainer Fee's

Re: Lawyer Retainer Fee's

Re: Lawyer Retainer Fee's

The reatainer agreement reads:

As agreed a minimum retainer of $3500 will be due upon the signing of the retainer agreement. Billing will be at the hourly rate of $350 per hour, as a credit against the initial retainer. You will be billed on month-to-month basis, and you will be notified when the initital retainer has been exhaused, and additional retainers may be required. All out of pocket disbursements will be due immediately when billed.

So my ? is does minimum mean non-refundable?

Do I still have the right to ask him for a breakdown of hours?

Response: Hi Kim- I located the file and the retainer agreement – as you can see, it is a minimum retainer of $3500 at $350/hr

We would only bill you if it went over 10 hours which it did not. So there is no billing as it was a minimum retainer.

Message edited 8/12/2010 4:23:18 PM.

Re: Lawyer Retainer Fee's - Update

I'm still skeptical. What was the actual services provided by that law firm on your behalf? How did they apply the retainer?

The wording on that Retainer makes it come across as a non-refundable retainer, and that any work they did was credited to the $3500, but even so - they are required to itemize what legal services were done from day one. I don't find their response to be satisfactory..

Re: Lawyer Retainer Fee's - Update

Is this a NY lawyer?

According to your agreement, he should have sent you monthly bills breaking down the time used.

Also, I believe his arrangement violates RPC 1.5(d) which prohits lawyers from charging "a nonrefundable retainer fee; provided that a lawyer may enter into a retainer agreement with a client containing a reasonable mimimum fee clause if it defines in plain language and sets forth the circumstances under which such fee may be incurred and how it will be calculated."

The determination of reasonableness is a fact sensitive inquiry based on the factors of RPC 1.5(a). If he charged $3,500 for a straightforward matter that took him 1 or 2 hours, that is unethical according to the NY Rules of Professional Conduct. Good luck!

Re: Lawyer Retainer Fee's - Update

Re: Lawyer Retainer Fee's - Update

Re: Lawyer Retainer Fee's - Update

You are entitled to a breakdown of time spent. You should be aware, however, that clients very often see a case as just "phone calls and paperwork" but many transactions require a lot more phone calls and a lot more paperwork than a client realizes. Hardly anything gets resolved in 1-2 phone calls.

As one example, I am currently handling a bankruptcy for a homebound individual and I've made 3 house calls and have over 1,000 pages of documents to review to make sure that all her creditors are included. Her creditors call my office constantly to verify balances. This is a no asset case that the client can easily consider to be a "simple bankruptcy" but my standard fee will amount to about $20 an hour if I am lucky. I'm giving her a break because of her condition but she does not see how much time has gone into it nor does she see that the real work gets done long before the case goes to court. (Court itself means time away from the office but when the paperwork is done well, a bankruptcy court appearance is often quick and simple).

I do not mean to imply that in your specific case you do not have a beef with your lawyer. I do not have the facts to say that. If you believe you do, contact the Nassau County Bar Association fee dispute committee.

Message edited 8/12/2010 7:27:11 PM.

Re: Lawyer Retainer Fee's - Update

Re: Lawyer Retainer Fee's - Update

Minimum retainer does NOT mean that they get to keep any unused funds. basically it just means that is the least amount of money he would accept for a retainer.

After the retainer is paid, you are billed hourly and you should receive an invoice every month breaking down the time spent and your balance.

You are entitled to any monies not used.

I would email them again.

Re: Lawyer Retainer Fee's - Update

His asst. told me that minimum retainer means non - refundable.

No where in the retainer does it refernence. Can I report him? Where would I go?

Message edited 8/20/2010 5:03:15 PM.

Re: Lawyer Retainer Fee's - Update

Re: Lawyer Retainer Fee's - Update

Forgive me if this sounds rude but a "few" phone calls and a "few" letters could easily add up to ten hours. I don't put my name or letterhead on anything unless I have verified both the facts and any legal precedent. I review all the facts before making phone calls on a case. If I obtain any sort of settlement for someone, I look it over with a fine tooth comb and, in fact, I often have an associate review it to make sure that I have not missed anything. As an attorney, my time is my commodity and I believe that I am being paid to be very meticulous.

That said, the only way I would consider something to be a minimum retainer is if it is clear that I will actually expend more time than the minimum retainer. Then if I do not expend that amount of time, the client gets a timely refund. The only way that I would let something sit for 2 years after the fact is if I had actually done more than the amount of the retainer but decided not to charge for the additional hours and I had spoken about it with the client. If it was the opposite and I owed a refund, I'd give it back in a very timely manner. It's not worth keeping a few hundred dollars extra and risking both my license and reputation. I'm lucky in a way, that most of the types of cases I handle require court approval of the fees so, by the nature of the case, the court becomes a party that has to agree on my fee.

If you still feel that you have been wronged, the Nassau County Bar Association can help you to initiate a grievance and/or a fee dispute. I'm on the Grievance Committee here in Suffolk and I believe that we're pretty fair with the decisions. It's different from the Fee Dispute committee but some cases go to both. We are in the same judicial district as Nassau but I am not sure if their setup is exactly the same.

Message edited 8/20/2010 10:01:06 PM.

Re: Lawyer Retainer Fee's - Update