Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Virginia

Client vs. ex-attorney's firm

I signed a retainer agreement with a law firm in order to be represented for my divorce/custody/child support/protection order. The attorney that represented me offered me a settlement for n\half the money I owed to the firm. Both of us (my attorney and I) signed the agreement abd I paid the money stated in it. My attorney left the firm. After he left I was contacted by the firm because they said my attorney was not authorized to make such decisions and I was still responsible for the remaining of the bill. I told them that I had signed a legal agreement with one of their representatives and was not going to pay the rest of the money. Now they are suing me for breach of contract. Also they say that I was billed incorrectly and owed $10.00 extra dollars per hour that my attorney used. Is there something that I can do?


Asked on 2/19/05, 8:04 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Jonathon Moseley Jonathon A. Moseley

Re: Client vs. ex-attorney's firm

Can you do something to make people stop claiming you owe them money? Obviously not. People can claim anything they want. You can't stop them from talking.

However, if and when they try to collect on this in court, that's an entirely different story. Assuming that you have a copy of that settlement agreement, or can get a written statement from the departed attorney confirming this agreement, then you should have an iron clad defense. If the attorney was not authorized to make the agreement, that is a problem between the law firm and the attorney. It's not your problem. If they held out this attorney to you as having "apparent authority" to make agreements on the fee, then the law firm is bound by his agreements. If that wasn't right, they have to take it up with their own employee, not with you.

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Answered on 2/20/05, 9:35 pm
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Re: Client vs. ex-attorney's firm

You should arrange a consultation with an attorney to review your orignal retainer agreement

and the so-called settlement agreement in order to determine what defenses might be available to you to defend against this suit and what sort of tactics and, perhaps, overall strategy would be best suited to avail you of at least some chance of your walking a way from the case as a winner rather than loser.

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Answered on 2/19/05, 10:31 pm


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