A retainer fee is the advance or security payment that one pays to his or her lawyer to make sure that the case goes on until the end. This process also provides assurance to a lawyer about the seriousness of the client about the case.
A client does not deposit the retainer fee on the lawyer’s personal account, to prevent further misunderstandings and also to prevent the lawyer from spending the money for his own personal cause. Both the client and the lawyer agree to place the retainer fee into a bank account with mutual access to help other have proper financial clearance. If you find the process of retainer fee complicated then take a look at other options like contingency fee (a percentage of the possible monetary reward achieved by the client given to the lawyer to make sure that the lawyer gives his full effort to win the case for the client).
Beside financial assurance, there are couple of more benefits of using retainer fee during a lawsuit. Such as:
Paying the necessary fee: Normally lawyers use the money from the retainer fee, after signing the retainer agreement (written agreement of proof about the transaction of retainer fee between client and lawyer) to pay essential bills and payments needed to run the lawsuit to its end. This is something that has been proven highly beneficial and effective for both the client and the lawyer in the past and in present.
Mutual dedication: Although the client hires a lawyer to solve his/her problem with the defendant (individual or a group of people who have caused loss to the client filing the law suit), but an agreement or a form of assurance is always needed to make sure that both the client and the lawyer have the maximum amount of dedication in the case.
Preventing post disputes: A retainer fee agreement ensures and helps the client and the lawyer to prevent any unnecessary legal actions on a post lawsuit level. If something goes wrong in the law suit and if there is a clear lack of mutual benefit between the lawyer and the client, then they can charge the other party against the retainer fee agreement. If a client or a lawyer does not have a retainer fee, then they cannot proof anything about the dedication of the other party towards the lawsuit. So, to avoid such complication retainer fee has become a part of the general practice of a lawsuit.