Hello, I need some help dealing with my lawyer. He required a $5500 retainer fee and so far I paid 1/3 of it. He only got to the point where he has filed summons with the court (H never got served). I told lawyer that I did not want H to be served anymore b/c we are going to try and reconcile. Well my lawyer wasn't happy about that. He said I still owe him the remaining balance of my retainer fee. Then he sent me an itemized bill showing I owe him close to $5K right now. Most of the hours were spent traveling & filing of summons. Anyway, I am not sure what to do about this bill. I feel he is trying to take advantage of me. Thanks for any input!

Every hour you spent talking to the lawyer about the case was billable. Think about all the background you gave him. Most lawyers require the entire retainer up front, and then deduct amounts as they bill hours, then require you to replenish the retainer.
Did you hire a lawyer who had to drive quite a distance to file? Many lawyers will use paralegals or junior lawyers to actually file motions and charge you at the lower rate. So, if your lawyer charged $250/hour, then did you take up 20 hours of his time. If they charge $500/hour, did you take up at least 10 hours? (that's easy to do).

Check with your local legal assistance division for what is realistic. If you think it is out of line, you can report him, but then would another lawyer take you on as a client?

Where do you guys live, that a lawyer does his own traveling to file papers? Most attorneys have an attorneys service for filing papers at court and for serving papers, because their time is too valuable. He may be billing you for costs/expenses, which would be separate from his fees. As for an itemized breakdown. Compare that with your own notes (which I hope you made) about meetings with him, phone calls with him, any phone calls he made to other professionals (accountants, psychologists, ph call to husband's attorney) and get out your calculator.

And, like newly said, the attorneys time bills very high for even a phone call. The bill can soar before you know it.

But, if he charges for filing the papers because he bills for driving to court - naah. They don't do that.

They DO charge for copying, word processing, filing fee at the courthouse, but unless you live in the middle of no-where, and even if you do live in the middle of no-where, there are such things as attorneys services that make pick-ups, drop-offs, and act as process servers, on a daily basis.