Quote:
Originally Posted by mike-al
The Austin Law Group is dedicated to making high quality legal services available and accessible for every community with which we work. We offer the following consultations and fee plans. Please contact us [email protected] or 415-282-4511 to schedule a consultation.
Telephone Consultations
We offer an initial thirty-minute phone consultation at no cost to you. The Austin Law Group will explain our services and the associated fees while assessing your legal needs.
In Person Consultations
The Austin Law Group also can provide prospective clients with in-person consultations at a reasonable rate. The in-person consultations are payable at the time of consultation. The initial fees will be credited against work completed later, making the initial consultation free to subsequent clients.
Retainer Fees and Hourly Rates
The Austin Law Group will assess your case and arrange a reasonable retainer fee. Retainers are a sum of money that is held in trust by our firm, and our hourly fees and costs are subtracted from that account. Please call for a consultation as to our rates and retainer fees.
Says here they will deduct from your retainer, so the second your retainer was up they would stop working... I'd print this out for your small claims court day.. its theyre policy clearly stated.. So you might not get any info out of them and yes it was a scam... but you won't owe them any more money.. than take this info and picket outside their office, and send to attorney general, BBB, etc |
whats wrong with you people? he had a written agreement with them. it spells everything out. the website isn't a contract. the website offers a general overview of how they work and your interpretation of whaat you are reading is wrong. it doesn't say anything about what happens in the event that the retainer is spent.
do this..
do that...
do the other thing...
the guy should have a retainer agreement, signed by him which is standard operating procedure. the law firm did what they all do if you don't spell out those details... the spend more money and the retainer agreement addresses that.
i mean seriously... how stupid are you people to start talking about suing a large lawfirm about their basic procedures? first... you can assume they cover their ass... HELLOOOO! its a law firm. second, you need to see the agreement he signed when he retained their services before you could even dream to have an opinion.
anyone suggesting taking a law firm to small claims court is extremely naive. anyone saying "yeah, just represent yourself" in this little exercise in stupidity in suing a lawfirm is just an asshole. they can move the case out of small claims court (forget the name of this move) and they can bury you, then sue you for their own costs.
if you want competent legal advice... hire a competent attorney. unfortunately, this guy just learned a hard lesson that many of us have learned the hard way. most lawyers are pricks. most lawyers/lawfirms have annual quotas for billable hours and they'll fuck you in a second because the burden of proof is on you to prove otherwise and dispute everything.