Q: I hired a attorney for a felony, that the state dropped before I even had a court date,am I entitled to a refund
I was arrested but never stepped foot in court for a felony,I paid the attorney 3 grand to represent me but he never had to go to court for the case, I got a text from him saying he talked to the state attorney and they dropped the case,my question is am I entitled to a refund considering he never had to do anything?
A: There should be a written contract between you and the attorney and that contract should provide the terms by which you are or are not entitled to a refund. But it's not true that "he never had to do anything"; he got the case dropped. That's essentially everything.
A: Isn’t the #1 goal when you hire an attorney to get the charges dismissed? If that goal was accomplished what should it matter if it was accomplished in 1 day or 1 year? Some may consider getting the dismissal quicker as being better, that way this case wasn’t hanging over your head for months or years. That being said, it never hurts to have a conversation with your lawyer to see exactly what he/she did or didn’t do and hopefully you are satisfied with what was done with your case. Remember, when you hire a lawyer, you are paying for their education, experience and relationships. If you hire a lawyer who can get your case dismissed with one phone call or you hire a lawyer that can get your same case dismissed by filing a million motions and spending countless hours in court, is there any difference? But like I said, it never hurts to address your concerns with your lawyer and also see your representation agreement covers any issues such as refunds.
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