refund of retainer

[clgranby]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MA


After being under severe work-related stress this summer, I had temporaily attributed it to my marriage and sought out an attorney - to whom I paid a rather substantial retainer.

However, within 2 weeks, I made it clear that I was not in the right frame of mind when we met, and that my issues were not with my marriage but with other realms [including extended family illness], and that I wanted at least PART of my retainer returned. We only met for < 1/2 hour, so I understand that time would be charged for, but not the entire retainer.

Do I have a right to get at least half of my money back, especially since I let it be known in a timely way that I had blamed my stress to the wrong issue? Thank you in advance for any ideas about this matter!

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MA


After being under severe work-related stress this summer, I had temporaily attributed it to my marriage and sought out an attorney - to whom I paid a rather substantial retainer.

However, within 2 weeks, I made it clear that I was not in the right frame of mind when we met, and that my issues were not with my marriage but with other realms [including extended family illness], and that I wanted at least PART of my retainer returned. We only met for < 1/2 hour, so I understand that time would be charged for, but not the entire retainer.

Do I have a right to get at least half of my money back, especially since I let it be known in a timely way that I had blamed my stress to the wrong issue? Thank you in advance for any ideas about this matter!

What does the contract you signed say? How much was the retainer?

 

[mistoffolees]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MA


After being under severe work-related stress this summer, I had temporaily attributed it to my marriage and sought out an attorney - to whom I paid a rather substantial retainer.

However, within 2 weeks, I made it clear that I was not in the right frame of mind when we met, and that my issues were not with my marriage but with other realms [including extended family illness], and that I wanted at least PART of my retainer returned. We only met for < 1/2 hour, so I understand that time would be charged for, but not the entire retainer.

Do I have a right to get at least half of my money back, especially since I let it be known in a timely way that I had blamed my stress to the wrong issue? Thank you in advance for any ideas about this matter!

Read the contract you signed. If you don't have it, ask for another copy from the attorney.

USUALLY, when the amount of work is small, unused portions of the retainer will be returned on request. However, that's not always the case, so read your contract carefully.