Ask a lawyer - it's free! It is improper and unethical for an attorney to give an advance other than to pay for the costs of certain expenses in a client's case.
Attorneys are barred by ethical rules from giving advances on settlements. However, some do give small advances nontheless. Thre are alos companies that loan money in return for a lien on PI Settlements. I discourage my clients from getting these, but they can be helpful in and emergency.
Attorneys typically have great discretion in deciding on what their fees will be. In most states and under ethical rules governing attorneys, the fees only need to be “reasonable.” There is no black and white test for what is reasonable, instead a number of factors are considered.
Attorneys usually bill in 1/10 th of an hour increments, meaning you will be charged 1/10 th of the hourly rate for every 6 minutes the attorney spends on your case. The most common billing frequency is monthly, however, some attorneys will send bills more frequently, others less frequently.
Retainer. If you must pay a deposit in advance (often called a "retainer"), the contract should state the retainer amount and when you must replenish it.
Advance Client Costs is a temporary contra asset account. The account is suppose to be used when the firm makes a payment for a client that will be billed to the client and later reimbursed.
An advance payment retainer is a sum provided by the client to cover payment of legal fees expected to be earned during the course of a client representation; to the extent the legal fees advanced are not earned during the representation, the lawyer agrees to return them to the client.
What is an Advance from Customer? Advance from customer is a liability account, in which is stored all payments from customers for goods or services that have not yet been delivered. Once the related goods or services have been delivered, the amount in this account is shifted to a revenue account.
Related Definitions Cost Advance means an advance of moneys to the Indemnified Party of Costs before the final disposition of any Claim.
How to record client reimbursed expenses?Go to the Vendors menu.Choose Vendor Center.Open the bill then, go to the Items tab.From the Amount column, enter the item and the amount.Click Save & Close.
For example, write “Cash” in the accounts column and “$6,000” in the debit column to reflect the receipt of the retainer fee in cash. Write “Unearned Revenue” with a left indent in the accounts column on the next line of the journal entry and the amount of the retainer fee in the credit column on the same line.
The retainer is really like a deposit. When you make that type of deposit, you will secure it as a prepaid expense on the balance sheet. You don't expense it because you haven't benefited from those services since the lawyer hasn't done the work.
Operationally, the key difference between fees paid in advance and a “true retainer” is that a “true retainer” can be immediately put into a law firm's operating account.
Advance payment is a type of payment made ahead of its normal schedule such as paying for a good or service before you actually receive it.
Presentation of Customer Advances A customer advance is usually stated as a current liability on the the balance sheet of the seller.
Definition of Income Received in Advance The credit to the liability account is made because the company has not yet earned the money and the company has an obligation to deliver the goods or services (or to return the money) to the customer.