12/16/08

The Michigan Supreme Court reversed the Attorney Discipline Board's decision in Grievance Administrator v. Cooper, in a one-paragraph order, declaring that the ADB erred in finding a fee agreement that provided for a nonrefundable retainer was ambiguous based upon a perceived disparity between the "nonrefundability" language and hourly billing language. The court concluded that the neither the clear and unambiguous nonrefundability language nor the lawyer's retention of the "minimum fee" upon termination of the lawyer-client relationship violated existing MRPC 1.5(a), 1.15(b), or 1.16(d).

View the Supreme Court Order

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