attorney's retainersI recently hired an attorney and gave her a $3500 retainer for my 17 yr old son's infant's custody case. Within 6 weeks...

Question

attorney's retainers

I recently hired an attorney and gave her a $3500 retainer for my 17 yr old son's infant's custody case. Within 6 weeks, the mother of the infant moved in with us and we asked the attorney to drop the case and refund that portion of the retainer which we didn't use (we never even went to court). According to her billing, she would owe us about $2000. After ignoring several phone calls, she now says the retainer is not refundable and her secratary said that she's in a ''bad'' mood and maybe she'll think about refunding some portion of the money in a couple of weeks. We have very limited contact with attorneys. Is this normal. Unfortunately, I cannot find the retainer letter we signed.

Answer

Re: attorney's retainers

In PA attorneys are required to have written fee agreements with new clients.

The PA Supreme Court Disciplinary Board enforces this requirement.

In addition attorneys are required to maintain an escrow account for moneies received and not yet earned.

The same board enforces those rules. You should be able to find them on the internet.

Good luck to you.

Answer

Re: attorney's retainers

Non-refundable retainers are not uncommon and most of the time that an attorney expends upon a case is right at the beginning. That reflects what her billing shows of the $1,500.00 expended within six weeks. It may be that the retainer agreement provides for a non-refundable retainer but that she is considering refunding a portion of it anyway. If it was a non-refundable retainer the question would be whether or not the retainer was clearly excessive. I don't handle custody cases and I'm not sure whether or not that type of retainer in a custody dispute would be considered "clearly excessive." But you should also know that since the case appears to have been filed, the attorney cannot just "drop" the case and that she will have to expend some further time to stop the court machinery that she set in motion by filing the case. It could be that she is just holding the balance to compensate her for her time while she does this but there is no requirement that a non-refundable retainer has to be deposited in the attorney's escrow account. But attorneys do tend to err on the side of caution and frequently place such retainers in their IOLTA or trust accounts.

In any dispute with a professional over fees, it is always best to submit the question to arbitration. If the attorney and you cannot agree on the amount that you feel should be refunded, it is best to resolve it with the Fee Dispute Committee of your County Bar Association.