QUESTION
Can I get an initial partial payment back if there is an agreement but nothing in writing?
Asked on Feb 01st, 2017 on Criminal Law - Alabama
More details to this question:
I met with an attorney for consultation of a legal matter involving a rule 32. We discussed the issues and possible solutions. We also then went over cost of ($2,500), and agreed to payment arrangements. I've located his firm on the web, and was comfortable with the bio and informative topics of the site. I agreed to obtain his services and made a partial payment ($1,250). This payment ($2,500) covered only a review of the documents I had to provide. A couple of months passed with me making several attempts to get any notes of his progress. Another month went by, suddenly I get a call by another attorney in the firm letting me know he had the case and would continue services upon receiving the balance for the review ($1,250), and payment to start the filings to the courts which would be another ($2,500) +/-. There is no written agreement or contract. Verbal agreement and my wife as witness to the consultation.
1 ANSWER
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Regardless of whether there is an agreement in writing, attorneys are ethically required to account for their time and insure that the amount they charge is a reasonable fee for the work completed. I would advise that you ask the attorney to provide an accounting of their billable hours and any expenses incurred. If the amount of work that they have completed is not sufficient to warrant a fee of $1,250, then they are obligated to return any unearned fees should you choose to end their representation of you. If they refuse to provide an accounting of their time and expenses, or if they provide an accounting but refuse to return any unearned fees, then you would need to file a complaint with the Alabama State Bar. Doing a Google search for "Alabama State Bar complaint against lawyer" should lead you to a PDF file that provides the form and explains the complaint process. Without knowing the details of your legal issue, I can't offer an opinion as to whether $2,500 for reviewing documents and another $2,500 for filing court motions is a reasonable fee. Additionally, I don't know the hourly rate of the attorneys or what costs may be incurred by them for filing costs, costs of discovery, etc., so I don't know if these fees are reasonable. The best thing to do is to ask for an accounting of time spent so far to determine whether they've overcharged you for the work currently completed. If they have, then chances are the quoted fees for the other services are also inflated.
Answered on Apr 06th, 2017 at 7:35 AM