Q: I paid a retainr fee with a lawyer for the process for applying for a Chinese Visa and decided not to go through with it
As we were going over what were our options for applying for the visa, lawyer would not discuss with us what further steps are required for the process unless we signed a paper saying that we agreed to the down payment. After we payed he told us there would be more fees based on the documents we showed him BEFORE making the payment. We felt very uncomfortable continuing business with him and told him we would not like to continue and if we could have our money back. He refused and we took our documents and left. I felt cheated, manipulated into doing something that we were not given all the information that we tried to ask. He talked over us and didn't really seem to care about making sure we (The clients) knew what we were doing. I want to know if I file a claim would I be able to get my money back since we didn't go through the service. This occurred in the state of Florida.
A: Generally, a lawyer cannot keep retainer funds until they do some work on the case and earn the money. There are some exceptions, so you should check with the State Bar of Florida.
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