Divorce Attorney Fee Refund - Where Do I Start

[Dogmatique]

I see that your post is old, so perhaps you figured this out already. It is illegal to have an unrefundable retainer fee. I was told this by the state bar. The lawyer can only keep the amount he billed for specific work completed. It does not matter if you signed the agreement because the agreement has an illegal provision in it.

The California state bar apparently disagrees with you, although on the surface I can understand why you'd say that. It's not that you're flat out wrong - because you're not. But the matter is not black and white.

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[TrafficJam]

Update:

After my wife sent an e-mail to the attorney, and called a number of times for some form of refund because of credit card debt he sent her a check for $2500. So, $1500 remains of the original $4000.

My thought was to now have her mail the attorney a certified letter requesting cancellation of services, and a statement of work.

Depending on the amount of work performed I will then take him to small claims court to have a judge make the final decision.

Not sure if there is a down side other than the small court file cost.