Legal Question in Legal Ethics in California

I have hired an attorney to represent me in a case against the FDIC. I have a retainer agreement to pay hourly rate $375. "We will not exceed 10 hours of work without your authorization." I paid $3750 plus about $600 fees over one year ago.

My attorney has called several times and mentioned he was hired on contingency basis. I was not sure and reread our agreement. I said I thought I paid a flat fee. He corrected me and said flat fee was for a small case where there was a set fee and the whole job would be done. He said he was on an hourly basis. OK, I agreed.

My case is before the judge. My attorney sent me a bill asking me to pay $11,556. I have never authorized work exceeding 10 hours. I asssumed my retainer was enough to cover his work till now since he never asked to do work beyond 10 hours. I am very nervous. What do I do?


Asked on 1/27/10, 1:15 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert F. Cohen Law Office of Robert F. Cohen

Either you have a contingency agreement or you have an hourly fee agreement. With a contingency agreement, the attorney will get paid when the case settles or you receive an award through judgment, arbitration, or settlement. With the hourly, you pay as you go.

You might want to have another attorney review your agreement and try to make sense of what it says, and help you to get a handle on what's going on.

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Answered on 2/01/10, 1:53 pm


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