Refund of a "nonrefundable" Retainer

[Foolish1]

What is the name of your state? GA
I hope this is an easy question to answer.
I signed a contract with an attorney a few weeks back to represent me as a plaintiff for an action that I was seeking and I paid a retainer that the contract stated was nonrefundable. I selected this attorney out of haste as I was in a hurry to file my case. I made this clear to him prior to signing the contract and he assured me that my case would be treated with urgency.
Within a few days, he had a death in the family and (in his words) needed to address legal matters of a personal nature. While I certainly sympathized with his situation, I could not wait for him as the elapsed time was now already double what he told me to expect and he had still not even drafted the paperwork for my case. I terminated my contract with him and sought other counsel. I immediately asked him for an accountability of his invested time in my case and a refund of any unused retainer.
He sent me a letter that said he will not provide me with the accountability nor will he refund the retainer as it was non-refundable and we had a contract.
Is this right? Can a retainer truly be classified as non-refundable even though the attorney never even started on my case?
Thank you.

[Silverplum]

Originally Posted by Foolish1

What is the name of your state? GA
I hope this is an easy question to answer.
I signed a contract with an attorney a few weeks back to represent me as a plaintiff for an action that I was seeking and I paid a retainer that the contract stated was nonrefundable. I selected this attorney out of haste as I was in a hurry to file my case. I made this clear to him prior to signing the contract and he assured me that my case would be treated with urgency.
Within a few days, he had a death in the family and (in his words) needed to address legal matters of a personal nature. While I certainly sympathized with his situation, I could not wait for him as the elapsed time was now already double what he told me to expect and he had still not even drafted the paperwork for my case. I terminated my contract with him and sought other counsel. I immediately asked him for an accountability of his invested time in my case and a refund of any unused retainer.
He sent me a letter that said he will not provide me with the accountability nor will he refund the retainer as it was non-refundable and we had a contract.
Is this right? Can a retainer truly be classified as non-refundable even though the attorney never even started on my case?
Thank you.

Yes******************************************...

[las365]

I do not know Georgia law or custom on this, but I can tell you that in Texas, non-refundable retainers are a big no-no. I know a lawyer who was severely sanctioned by the Texas State Bar for refusing to return the portion of a non-refundable retainer that was in excess of the amount of fees calculated at his hourly rate for the work he had done. Even though he actually had sort of a good reason.

You should contact the Georgia State Bar and find out if they have a fee dispute resolution section, or to get information about filing a grievance. Unless you have left out some pertinent information, I think you should get at least part of your money back.

[xylene]

Originally Posted by Foolish1

Can a retainer truly be classified as non-refundable even though the attorney never even started on my case?

The answer if you are owed this refund is not based on if he started or not.

It is based on if his failure to immediately begin work is a breech of contract.

Did the contract specify timeframe for execution?

Do you have damages as a reuslt of a deadline being missed - and I mean a deadline that was that was spelled out in the contract?