Lawyer Bad Rep Reinforced, Disgusted

[edkrane]

My question relates to legal practice in the state of: California, Los Angeles County

For an attorney retained and paid a substantial sum for "X" amount of hours per Attorney-Client agreement, is there any recourse of action the client may take in recovering partial fees from the Attorney on the basis of failure to perform agreed-upon help and assistance. My attorney was retained to advise and assist me for the duration of Administration of my deceased father's Trust. The time allotment was 15 hours. His input MAY have accrued to 1/3rd of that but no more. He repeatedly did not answer email inquiries, did not return phone calls, and would not answer the phone. He was often unavailable for months at a time, eventually answering an email with a short half-sentence. I essentially paid the guy a big chunk of money for very little legal advice. I repeatedly asked him by email..."if my time allotment accrual has reached out agreement, please indicate so. He would never answer. I essentially administered the Trust with "almost" no assistance from him.
He has angered me much, and the stereotypes about lawyers being sharks have really turned me against the whole profession.
Do I have any recourse?
Is a retainership basically a "Lease"...money paid for the "Right" to contact the attorney, but not necessarily the performance of the attorney?

[adjusterjack]

If you feel that he overcharged you for the amount of work he actually did, you can file a fee dispute with the Los Angeles County Bar Association:

https://www.lacba.org/need-legal-hel...ervice-clients

If you feel that he engaged in misconduct you file that complaint at the state level:

https://www.calbar.ca.gov/Public/Com...le-A-Complaint

[pg1067]

For an attorney retained and paid a substantial sum for "X" amount of hours per Attorney-Client agreement, is there any recourse of action the client may take in recovering partial fees from the Attorney on the basis of failure to perform agreed-upon help and assistance.

Attorneys in California are required to submit any fee dispute to arbitration through the State Bar, if the client chooses. Thus, the client has the option of pursuing arbitration or suing (and it's possible that some local bar associations might also offer arbitration, but it would require both parties to consent).