Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Pennsylvania

I had a criminal case back in 2007. the case was in the state of pennsylvania. my mother sought out the services of a lawyer and retained the law firms services. i should mention that i was incarcerated for the crime prior to her retaining their services. after being bailed out, the lawyers got me approved for the a.r.d intervention program and i was sentenced to probation. at the conclusion of the official sentencing my lawyer tells me he neglected to collect a retainer fee. he was paid approximately $5000 in total, some before i was released and the rest after i was released. i am now in collections for $1147 which he is claiming is an unpaid retainer fee, is this legal?


Asked on 6/21/11, 7:11 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Rachel Hunter

This is not a credit/collection question. Of course this is legal. Its not a crime, so why would it not be? The lawyer can charge whatever he wants for his services. I do think it is rather poor lawyering to tell you after the fact and it might be a violation of a rule of professional responsibility for a lawyer to advise after the fact that the services are going to cost more than anticipated. Since there was no trial, I don't really understand why this could not have been done upfront.

You really need to discuss this with your attorney and ask him to provide an itemized breakdown of the cost. Someone signed a fee agreement - either you or your mother - that should have been explained upfront as to what it would cost. What does it say?

If you have a dispute with your lawyer, the counties have a fee dispute resolution program. I don't understand why this is in collections either. Have you tried to negotiate this with the collection agency at all?

Nothing stops you from filing a grievanance with the state disciplinary board.

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Answered on 6/21/11, 9:33 pm


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