Legal Question in Bankruptcy in California

I'm in CA and visited a bankruptcy attorney in order to file a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy on 8/26/09. My wife and I signed a contract for the Chapter 7 bankruptcy services on that same day. We also placed a $500 deposit on those services. As far as the bankruptcy was concerned we never did anything else towards getting the bankruptcy started. As far as we know neither did the attorney and we never heard from them again regarding it. About 2 months later we decided we weren't going to go forward with the bankruptcy. Flash forward to today (1-6-10) and my wife and I are wondering if the $500 deposit we put down was refundable. When I called the bankruptcy lawyer I was told that if we didn't want to move forward with the bankruptcy and wanted the $500 refunded then we should've told them within 30 days of making the deposit. In my contract I'm reading that the initial retainer of $1000 is non-refundable. Is my $500 deposit considered as the initial retainer? If it is not what should I do to get our $500 deposit back?


Asked on 1/06/10, 10:36 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Carl Starrett Law Offices of Carl H. Starrett II

It sounds to me like you paid $500 of a $1000 non-refundable deposit. Quite frankly, the attorney probably did a lot more than $500 worth of work. By the time that I sit down with a potential client for a consultation, I've reviewed the information in their questionnaire and 6 months of income documentation. If they retain me, I do even more work in anticipation of them filing for bankruptcy. It sounds to me like the attorney earned what little money that you did pay.

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Answered on 1/11/10, 10:54 am


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