Legal Question in Legal Ethics in Virginia
Client legal recourse
What legal recourse does client have when attorney arbitrarily change cited representation rate from 5% to well over 10% in sale of real estate without any advance notification? Whate legal recourse does client have when attorney fail to deposit earnest money in interest bearing account as cited in purchase agreement until sale is final?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Client legal recourse
An attorney cannot increase fees in violation of the client's contract. Further, the lawyer's fees must be reasonable. There may be civil recourse for breach of contract, and it may be an ethical violation which can be addressed by the Virginia State Bar (www.vsb.org).
The lawyer has to deposit money held in trust in a special account set up for that purpose. If the agreement required an interest-bearing account and it was put into a regular trust account, it is probably not unethical, but the lawyer would owe you the lost interest. If the money was not put into a trust account at all, it is an ethical violation that should be reported to the bar.
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