What is an Advanced Deposit (Often improperly referred to as a retainer)?
An advanced deposit is a deposit or advance payment to the firm of some of the fees and/or costs which the firm anticipates it will incur to represent you. The deposit is held in a trust account by the firm pursuant to a written fee agreement. The firm pays itself from the retainer funds only as it earns the fees or spends the costs on your behalf. The amount of the retainer requested by the firm depends upon the amount of time, costs and resources which the firm anticipates it will spend to represent you. If it is a large assignment, the retainer may cover only a portion of the entire project. If the firm concludes its representation and has not utilized the entire retainer, you will be refunded the difference. Our firm has collected retainers as small as $500 and as large as $150,000.00. The amount of the retainer is fact specific.
