Sorted by Commenter - Ethics - State of California

true retainer. This arrangement
additional fees until: (1) the true
calculation, if it is and/or (2) until
charges or a civil suit), even though the lawyer will remain available and do all necessary
work, under the initial , for
(including attempting to prevent the filing of a case). Paragraph e
, appears
to not permit this arrangement because if any portion of the original true retainer is used
to pay for the attorney s work in the potential case, then the entire fee is automatically
converted into an advance, unearned See Comment
therefore, deprives the lawyer and the client of the ability to
beneficial to the client (and which no client would refuse) and prevents the lawyer
receiving a true retainer earned when received.
If this arrangement is characterized as a "true retainer" and this
the lawyer be additionally compensated for any actual work conforms with existing law
there is currently a far better solution. The
relatively common use of hybrid fees.
minimum fee cannot
availability, and/or , for example
(2) serve as a minimum advance fee earned when received for active representation until
the time a decision is made as to whether criminal charges or a civil suit will be filed with
(3) the full payment also credited as discussed above for necessary legal work performed
prior to the filing of a civil suit or criminal , the fee for these services
will be no , as
computed hourly or an agreed upon future date passes, then the client can be billed as
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true retainer. It presumes the lawyer is to be additionally
compensated for any actual work performed. " The Therefore, a
payment. . . "to secure a lawyer s availability, but that will be applied to the
account as the lawyer renders services is not a true retainer under paragraph (e)(1).
Under this proposal, if the
negotiation of the availability retainer and decides to treat the payment as a minimum fee
and give the client , for
example, a decision , the entire balance
availability retainer can no longer be considered as earned when received. Therefore, the
hourly billing or additional fixed fee clock would begin running if the lawyer
any substantive work. Under Comment , this nonrefundable fee is no
longer nonrefundable, but instead , advance
above, this prohibition of
credit against future services, if any, hardly serves the interest of the client or public.
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