what is a retainer fee 
a retainer fee is an upfront payment to secure the services of a lawyer consultant freelancer or other professional a retainer fee is most commonly paid to third parties that the payer has engaged to perform a specific action on their behalf these fees only ensure the receiver s commitment in addition retainer fees usually do not represent the total final cost of the services provided understanding retainer feesa retainer fee is an advance payment that a client makes to a professional and it is considered a down payment on the future services rendered by that professional regardless of occupation the retainer fee funds the initial expenses of the working relationship for this reason these fees usually remain separate from the hourly wages of the consultant freelancer or lawyer this ensures that money is not used for personal purposes before fully performing services the most common form of retainer fee applies to lawyers who in most cases require potential clients to provide an upfront retainer fee 1retainer fees do not reflect the final cost of a service if the cost of a case is greater than your retainer you may end up owing a balance example of a retainer feea lawyer may charge a 500 retainer fee if the lawyer charges 100 an hour the retainer covers all services up to the five hour limit the lawyer then bills the client for the cost of any additional hours of work on behalf of that client so if a trial case takes 10 hours the lawyer charges the client an additional 500 which comes to 1 000 when including the retainer if the client s case is resolved before reaching the five hour limit the lawyer refunds the remaining portion of the retainer to the client earned retainer fees vs unearned retainer feesan unearned retainer fee refers to the initial payment held in a retainer account before any services are provided retainer fees are earned once services have been fully rendered in the example above the retainer is considered unearned until the court case is closed and finalized these unearned fees do not belong to the person performing the tasks in this case the lawyer until work begins any unearned retainer fees that are not used can be returned to the client earned retainer fees are the portion of the retainer that the lawyer is entitled to after work begins earned retainer fees may be granted to the lawyer bit by bit depending on the number of hours worked retainer fees can also be distributed based on tasks or milestones for instance a lawyer may receive 25 of the retainer fee after completing the pretrial process 