A retainer is an amount of money paid in advance to secure the services of an attorney. The retainer is held in a trust account on behalf of the client. The attorney's hourly rate is billed against the retainer amount. What that means is that every time work is performed on a client's file the hourly rate is deducted from the retainer paid. You can think of the trust account as a bucket. You can think of the retainer payment as rocks placed in the bucket. Every time work is performed on a client's case a rock is taken out of the bucket. When the number of rocks gets below a certain amount, the client has to give the attorney more rocks to add. Here is a numeric example, your retainer is $3,500. That $3,500 is placed in your assigned bucket. The attorney performs 1 hour of work at a rate of $350 per hour (rocks). Your bucket now has $3,150 in it. Retainers also include a replenishment provision . What that means is that once your original retainer goes below a pre-determined amount you must pay additional funds to bring your retainer back up to the predetermined amount. For example, your replenishment provision could be $1,750. That means that when the attorney has worked on your case and the hours billed adds up to an amount that decreases the number of rocks in your bucket below $1,750, you have to add more rocks to bring it back up to $1,750. Here is a numeric example, Your original retainer is $3,500. The attorney works 6 hours at a rate of $350 per hour. That deducts $2,100 from your bucket. Your bucket now has $1,400 in it. You will receive a bill for $350 to bring your bucket back up to $1,750. If you have money left in your trust account above the original minimum retainer of $3500 at the end of the case, that amount will be refunded to you.

FAQs Archive

How long do I have to file for contempt on denied visitation

By Sharita|2020-10-09T19:55:27+00:00October 9th, 2020|

The court retains jurisdiction for contempt up to 6 months after the kid is adult or up to 6 months after the right to possession terminates.

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How long do I have to file for contempt on over due child support

By Sharita|2020-10-09T19:49:26+00:00October 9th, 2020|

The court retains jurisdiction for contempt up to 2 years after the child becomes an adult or 2 years after the child support obligation terminates.

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What Is A Retainer?

By Sharita|2022-07-17T15:56:44+00:00September 22nd, 2020|

A retainer is an amount of money paid in advance to secure the services of an attorney. The retainer is held in a trust account on behalf of the client. The attorney's hourly rate is billed against the retainer amount. What that means is that every time work is performed on a client's file the hourly [...]

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How Long Will My Divorce Take?

By Sharita|2020-09-19T23:29:05+00:00September 19th, 2020|Categories: Divorce|

There is a minimum 60 day waiting period in Texas to finalize a divorce. However, how long a divorce takes depends on many factors including the issues involved in the divorce and the court's availability to schedule hearings for contested issues.

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What Are The Grounds For Divorce In Texas?

By Sharita|2020-09-19T23:29:38+00:00September 19th, 2020|Categories: Divorce|

There are two types of divorce in Texas: Fault and No-Fault. Most divorces in Texas are no-fault. It is the least expensive. There are 5 basic categories of fault divorce in the Texas Family Code. Fault can be important for the purpose of marital property division, parental rights, and spousal maintenance. The 5 fault categories are: [...]

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Who Can Get Divorced In Texas?

By Sharita|2020-09-19T23:30:07+00:00September 19th, 2020|Categories: Divorce|

To file a divorce in Texas at least one spouse must have lived in Texas for 6 months and in the county where the divorce will be filed for at least 90 days prior to the filing of the divorce.

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