Attorney ignoring request for partial refund of Retainer Fee

[tomgavin]

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

My elderly parents paid a $1500 Retainer fee to an attorney in Chester County. The purpose was for legal help in adding myself on as Co-Trustee on the will. After further consideration, my father decided to get out of being trustee altogether, and because of the wording on Will, he was able to sign over the funds to the beneficiaries. Everything has been done, taken care of.

The attorney took about 4 phone calls and handled several e-mails, as well as looked over the Will. That's all he did...maybe an hour's work, if that total. In his Retainer Fee agreement, there is nothing mentioned about the Retainer fee, or a portion of, being non-refundable.

Several emails, phone calls and even a certified letter was sent to the attorney, requesting a refund of the Retainer fee, minus whatever charges were incurred for his efforts, which were pretty minimal. A month ago, he responded saying he'd have his "Book Keeper look into it and issue a refund check.".

Since then, my parents, both 85 years of age, have heard NOTHING. He has not responded in ANY way. He's ignoring all attempts to reach him. By my count, he owes my parents a MINIMUM of $1100. They are not expecting the full $1500 but at least most of it. Clearly, this attorney is demonstrating a lack of character and CLASS. My elderly mother even left a heart felt voice mail for him, which he's ignored. What should they do?? They paid the money out of their own pocket. What recourse do they have?

Personally, I could tell that this lawyer was not a quality person by his early interactions (which lasted all of a total of about 10 minutes). Please help guide us. Thank you.

 

[Silverplum]

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

My elderly parents paid a $1500 Retainer fee to an attorney in Chester County. The purpose was for legal help in adding myself on as Co-Trustee on the will. After further consideration, my father decided to get out of being trustee altogether, and because of the wording on Will, he was able to sign over the funds to the beneficiaries. Everything has been done, taken care of.

The attorney took about 4 phone calls and handled several e-mails, as well as looked over the Will. That's all he did...maybe an hour's work, if that total. In his Retainer Fee agreement, there is nothing mentioned about the Retainer fee, or a portion of, being non-refundable.

Several emails, phone calls and even a certified letter was sent to the attorney, requesting a refund of the Retainer fee, minus whatever charges were incurred for his efforts, which were pretty minimal. A month ago, he responded saying he'd have his "Book Keeper look into it and issue a refund check.".

Since then, my parents, both 85 years of age, have heard NOTHING. He has not responded in ANY way. He's ignoring all attempts to reach him. By my count, he owes my parents a MINIMUM of $1100. They are not expecting the full $1500 but at least most of it. Clearly, this attorney is demonstrating a lack of character and CLASS. My elderly mother even left a heart felt voice mail for him, which he's ignored. What should they do?? They paid the money out of their own pocket. What recourse do they have?

Personally, I could tell that this lawyer was not a quality person by his early interactions (which lasted all of a total of about 10 minutes). Please help guide us. Thank you.

Fee disputes are handled at the County level in PA. Start here: http://www.pabar.org/CountyDir/Map.asp

And here, if needed: http://www.pabar.org/public/membership/mscfaqpub.asp

 

[quincy]

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

My elderly parents paid a $1500 Retainer fee to an attorney in Chester County. The purpose was for legal help in adding myself on as Co-Trustee on the will. After further consideration, my father decided to get out of being trustee altogether, and because of the wording on Will, he was able to sign over the funds to the beneficiaries. Everything has been done, taken care of.

The attorney took about 4 phone calls and handled several e-mails, as well as looked over the Will. That's all he did...maybe an hour's work, if that total. In his Retainer Fee agreement, there is nothing mentioned about the Retainer fee, or a portion of, being non-refundable.

This was probably more than an hour's worth of work. The retainer fee agreement needs to be reviewed to see if the $1500 was a flat rate fee. What was the attorney's hourly rate and how was it charged?

Did your parents formally fire the attorney they hired or did they just call and send emails requesting a refund?

Several emails, phone calls and even a certified letter was sent to the attorney, requesting a refund of the Retainer fee, minus whatever charges were incurred for his efforts, which were pretty minimal. A month ago, he responded saying he'd have his "Book Keeper look into it and issue a refund check.".

Since then, my parents, both 85 years of age, have heard NOTHING. He has not responded in ANY way. He's ignoring all attempts to reach him. By my count, he owes my parents a MINIMUM of $1100. They are not expecting the full $1500 but at least most of it. Clearly, this attorney is demonstrating a lack of character and CLASS. My elderly mother even left a heart felt voice mail for him, which he's ignored. What should they do?? They paid the money out of their own pocket. What recourse do they have?

The attorney should have responded to at least some of the emails, phone calls or the certified letter. If your parents formally notified the lawyer that he was fired, they should have received from the attorney a final billing statement, with a detailed accounting of the amounts spent on behalf of your parents.

An additional link to add to the ones Silverplum provided:
http://www.padisciplinaryboard.org/consumers/faqs/

 

[tomgavin]

They sent him a certified letter saying his services were no longer needed and requesting a partial refund. They asked him to detail his charges for any phone calls/emails and reviewing of the will.

Also, his Retainer Fee Agreement never said it was a flat fee. Also, why would he respond to the one email saying he'd have his Book Keeper look into it "issue a check"?

 

[quincy]

They sent him a certified letter saying his services were no longer needed and requesting a partial refund. They asked him to detail his charges for any phone calls/emails and reviewing of the will.

Also, his Retainer Fee Agreement never said it was a flat fee. Also, why would he respond to the one email saying he'd have his Book Keeper look into it "issue a check"?

It appears that your parents have done what they needed to do to notify the lawyer that his services were no longer needed and it appears that the attorney has not responded to their communication in a timely fashion.

I don't know why the delay in sending a final statement or why the attorney would say he'd have his book keeper issue a check if he didn't intend to send one.

I suggest your parents try to contact the attorney one more time, perhaps mentioning a State Bar complaint if they do not receive the final bill and a refund in X amount of days.

Your parents can make use of the links provided earlier. Good luck.