Posted: 2/13/2012 2:10:50 AM EDT
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Me an my wife gave an attorney a $1100 deposit .
Since giving him the deposit I started having really bad problems with the eyes an decide to hold off with your original plans for 6 months. Hard to do thing when you cant see good. The attorney refuses to give us a refund an he hasnt done any work on the case since getting it. He hasnt even meet with us. Can he just keep the deposit or is there action that can be taken to get a refund. We signed no papers with him yet. The only thing that was exchange between us was a hand wrote receipt from his secretary with no terms about a refund. Sorry about the bad typos its hard to see the keyboard right now, Just got shots in the eyes. If anyone can help, Thanks |
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Don't know about Pennsylvania, but in most states an attorney has to put advance money in a trust account and only take it out once earned. If he really has done no work, you should be able to get it returned in most states. I would recommend writing a letter to the attorney requesting the refund and make the point of stating: 1) he never said the deposit was not refundable; 2) he has done no work on the matter. Ask for a written response within 2 weeks. Put the onus on him to refute those two statements.
If he does not respond or give you the money back then I would recommend contacting the state bar and filing a complaint. Attach a copy of the letter you sent and any response (or state he never responded to your letter if that is accurate). You may find he quickly writes you a check at that point. ETA: This indicates that fee disputes are handled at the local bar level. If you click on the county you live in then you might find more info there. http://www.pabar.org/public/membership/mscfaqpub.asp ETA 2: http://www.padisciplinaryboard.org/faqs/consumers.php#Fees Click on here and click on the section related to Fees. Cite this in section in your letter to the attorney. The language I am referring to is in blue: My attorney wants to charge me a non-refundable fee. Can he or she do that? Yes, as long as the attorney says so in writing and you agree to the representation under those terms, and as long as the attorney discharges his/her duties pursuant to the Rules of Professional Conduct. |
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Here's the deal.
99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name. Most attorneys won't give you your money back regardless of what's right. They will rationalize some shit to make it OK for them. You could sue them and win but they know it's going to cost you more than it's worth. They know you won't do that and even if you did all they would have to do is give the money back someday... |
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Quoted:
Here's the deal. 99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name. Most attorneys won't give you your money back regardless of what's right. They will rationalize some shit to make it OK for them. You could sue them and win but they know it's going to cost you more than it's worth. They know you won't do that and even if you did all they would have to do is give the money back someday... Yeah, that post is helpful. 
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Here's the deal. 99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name. Most attorneys won't give you your money back regardless of what's right. They will rationalize some shit to make it OK for them. You could sue them and win but they know it's going to cost you more than it's worth. They know you won't do that and even if you did all they would have to do is give the money back someday... Yeah, that post is helpful. Yeah, don't listen to gopeterson because he doesn't know what he's talking about.... 
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Here's the deal. 99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name. Most attorneys won't give you your money back regardless of what's right. They will rationalize some shit to make it OK for them. You could sue them and win but they know it's going to cost you more than it's worth. They know you won't do that and even if you did all they would have to do is give the money back someday... Yeah, that post is helpful. Yeah, don't listen to gopeterson because he doesn't know what he's talking about.... 99% of the time what I say gives the rest of what I say a bad name.
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Here's the deal. 99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name. Most attorneys won't give you your money back regardless of what's right. They will rationalize some shit to make it OK for them. You could sue them and win but they know it's going to cost you more than it's worth. They know you won't do that and even if you did all they would have to do is give the money back someday... Yeah, that post is helpful. Yeah, don't listen to gopeterson because he doesn't know what he's talking about.... 99% of the time what I say gives the rest of what I say a bad name. coffee on keyboard, screen. 
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He got the letter yesterday morning an I had a check in my mail box this afternoon, he must have gotten the check in the mail as soon as he got the letter. what language did you use? did you ask for the time to be accounted? did you mention it should be refundable if not explicitly stated it wasn't to be? did you threaten to contact the BAR? thanks. |