I can't tell you the amount of times people look at me with a weird look in their eye when I inform them about a retainer for my services.   I have a feeling that most people are educated about how an attorney gets paid through TV ads that usually see "We don't get paid a dime unless we win the case for you!" Those cases (Where they don't get paid a dime unless they win the case) are called contingency fee cases.  However, a great deal of cases are paid on a retainer fee arrangement. Here's how RETAINERS work.  When you have a legal problem (like a criminal law, tax law, family law, corporate law, or intellectual property to name a few) that needs to be addressed, some attorneys will not take the case unless you pay them a retainer upfront.  The retainer is usually the attorney's hourly rate times the number of hours the attorney anticipates that they will need to satisfy their desired goal.    It's important to understand that the more complicated the case, the more hours it will probably take, and the more expensive it will be. If the case is in court, it can become more expensive because the attorney will have to file motions, appear in court, make arguments (both oral and written), conduct discovery, attend / prepare for mediation, and go to court. Here's a few things that you, also, need to be aware: 1) When the attorney is working on YOUR case, they are not working on anyone else's. Keep in mind.  If they are preparing a brief or arguments, they are WORKING on your case, so it's important that they have funds to draw from regarding your account. 2) Some attorneys won't go for the payment plan. Sometimes, people don't understand how much time and effort that goes into working on someone's case.  An attorney can rack up alot of hours very fast on a case.  And let's be real.  If  you know you owe your attorney a $1000 but you need to keep the lights on, guess where your $1000 is going to go??? 3) It's never personal.  It's always business. I've known many firms who have either stopped or withdrawn from cases where the client either hasn't paid in a while or just stopped paying.   Some people think that an attorney is bound to stay in a case even if they are not paying.  Most State Bars will not let an attorney get out of a case if it is to the detriment of the client.  However, if there is enough time, they will allow them to withdraw if necessary.  In addition, some retainer agreements have liens that can placed on your property.  The attorney wants to make sure they get paid. Just remember this, if you have a situation that requires the use of an attorney, just be prepared to pay a few thousand dollars if it's not a case that can be paid through contingency.  This way you won't have the "OOOOOO" or "AAAAAAAAA" look on your face when they slap that RETAINER hammer on you!