Refund from Attorney?

[m231tt]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MA
Good afternoon,
I had hired an attorney to work on my child's adoption. Fortunately, the adoption went through without a hitch six months ago, after about a 17 month process.

The other day I received a bill from my attorney, outlining every single hour she had spend on our case since our first meeting. She also included every payment we had made to her and by her records, we still owed her $1,200. After thoroughly reviewing the bill, we realized she had not included a $3,000 payment we had given her (we have a copy of the check and it has been cashed).

My question is this... are we in fact entitled to a refund?

My gut says that yes, we should be, but I'm somewhat anticipating a fight from her. I suspect that business has been slow for her, hence her sending a bill six months after our last contact. Had she not sent the bill, I wouldn't have realized just how much we overpaid her.

THANKS for any and all feedback!

[SIN EATER]

It certainly appears that you overpaid.
I would send a certified letter with a copy of the uncredited check & ask for the refund to be remitted asap.

If the refund isn't sent, I would file in small claims court against her, using her billing as proof re monies due.

It is a violation of any state's Professional Rules for attorneys to put payments directly into their personal or business accounts - the $ should go into an IOLTA account and only be transferred into the personal/business attorney account after the $ is earned.

It was a serious bookkeeping error, as it shows she's not complying with her State Bar Rules.