Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

I suppose it depends on whether the attorney did anything that helped you as opposed to merely setting up the file, reviewing it, etc. If the attorney failed to make an adequate conflict search at the very beginning, then I would argue had he done so there would not have been any retaining of him/her so no fees payable. If the conflict did not arise until work had already been done on your case, the attorney should be entitled to some fee. But if the attorney created the conflict themselves, they might not be entitled to any payment by you.

You do not state what the conflict is, so I can not comment further. You could call the State Bar and see if they can give you any advice under the exact circumstances of your case.

It depends on the stage of litigation, i.e. how much work was done. The attorney might be entitled to the reasonable value of services performed. If the conflict should have been apparent from the outset, you might argue that the attorney should have declined doing work on the case. Also, you should review your retainer agreement to see what it says about the attorney's withdrawal.