Can I get a refund on money paid to an attorney if I am not satisfied?

It depends on what your retainer agreement says if you signed one, and how much work the attorney did for you. You always have a choice of counsel, but if the attorney did a lot of work on your case, you may have to pay her for the work she did. Otherwise, she can assert a lien on any documents you want to get back. If your dissatisfaction stems from serious neglect of your case or what you believe is malpractice, you might have a claim against the lawyer. In that case, you should express your concerns to her as another reason for a refund.

Typically yes. You will have to review the contract you signed. Usually an attorney just bills for the time they have spent on a case and if there is retainer left, they will return the difference. If you have issues, contact your state bar regarding the issue.

You can certainly fire any attorney that you are not happy with, but whether you are entitled to a refund of any deposit you have paid will depend on the amount of work already performed on the case. Just setting up your file, performing a full consultation, reviewing your pay records and tax returns can run up several hundred dollars of legal fees.

The answer is, it depends. If a lot of work has been done by your attorney, then, she may not be willing to give back all of the money she has collected from you. Sometimes, just sitting down with your attorney and talking to him or her works out the kinks in the relationship. The attorney may also agree to refund the money because he or she does not want you talking about the attorney badly. It is not a bad thing that you and the attorney are not working out as a team very well. This happens more than you would think and that is because there are two sides. Sometimes, lines of communication get snarled up and then the attorney would rather have you leave than be unhappy. Clients who are not happy are much more trouble than they are worth. Most of the time, the problems are caused by differing expectations of what will happen in a case. You should call the attorney, set up an appointment to meet with the attorney and let the attorney know why you want to meet with the attorney. Most attorneys value their reputation more than fees that you may have paid. If all else fails, you can file a dispute with the fee dispute board which will issue a ruling as to whether you should receive a full refund, a partial refund or no refund.

You should review your retainer agreement which should set out when and how fees are earned. Depending upon what and how much work has been done by the lawyer, you may or may not be entitled to a full or partial refund.

It is possible.