Re: Finding a Lawyer

You asked about paying for a lawyer.

Lawyer's need to pay for the expenses of life as does any other person. We do this by charging fees. Many times a lawyer can get a result that the client wanted and then won't get paid by the client. No lawyer wants to sue a client to get paid his/her fee.

To help protect against this most lawyers charge a retainer. This assures payment at least to the extent of the retainer. If the matter exceeds the retainer then it may be that the client won't pay anything more and a judge may refuse to let the attorney withdraw from the case. That means the lawyer may be working for free and how zealous can an advocate be when essentially forced to allow a client to steal time.

The $200 per hour would be charged against the retainer. If you only use 10 hours of the lawyer's time then you would get a refund of the unused retainer. But if you exceed the amount of the retainer then you may not make good on the remaining monies owed.

My suggestion is to go with the attorney that you feel comfortable with and try to negotiate the retainer. Maybe make payments against it such as $2000 now and then the full $5000 before thanksgiving, for example. Otherwise you should borrow the money. Most lawyers can't afford to operate as banks and if you family or friends won't lend you money then why should a lawyer?

About the best reason to pay a retainer was stated by Abraham Lincoln: When you pay a lawyer a retainer you know you have a lawyer and the lawyer knows he has a client.

Regards,

Roger

Re: Finding a Lawyer

The reasons lawyers ask for retainers is that the court can force a lawyer to continue to represent a non paying client. I would be willing to discuss further your situation and see if a mutually agreable situation can be found. I offer free initail consultations.