What is a "retainer" and why do lawyers need one?

A "retainer" is an amount of money paid by the client to a lawyer at the time when the client hires the lawyer. The retainer is placed into a client funds account, which is separate from the lawyer's own bank account. As the lawyer does work on the client's case, he or she will bill the client for this work at an hourly rate. When a bill is sent, the money to pay it comes not from the client, but is taken out of the client funds account. Thus, a retainer is in essence pre-paid legal fees. A lawyer needs a retainer because once the lawyer tells a Court that he or she is representing a client, a judge's permission is necessary before a lawyer can stop representing the client in that case. Sometimes, judges will not let a lawyer leave a case even if the client has stopped paying the lawyer. A retainer minimizes the risk that a lawyer will be put into this situation. The size of retainers requested by our firm varies with the level of complexity of each case and the likelihood of litigated ... more