Richard Woodrow, Attorney at Law Refused to return funds not earned Lacey Washington

 Mr. Woodrow was paid 500$ as a deposit to represent a friend against a burglary charge in Thurston County, WA. He saw my friend for five minutes prior to court and at court, the charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence. Mr. Woodrow never addressed the court, filed an Notice of Appearance and the charges being dropped was not related to his representation. When I called his office about a refund, I was told that district court was picking it up as a misdemeanor, so Mr. Woodrow's services would still be required. I had her double check with Woodrow because something seemed not right. She relayed back, that yes my friend would receive a subpoena in the mail from district court. Nothing was ever refiled and Mr. Woodrow refuses to return money he did not earn. When my friend called about a refund the secretary lied and said that Mr. Woodrow had explained to me that the $500 was a non-refundable retainer. Only problem with that is, that WA state requires a non refundable retainer agreement to be in writing and signed by the client. Furthermore the Rules of Professional Conduct require any advance payment fees such as this to be placed in a trust account, only to be withdrawn as nthose fees are earned.