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Hiring an attorney can be costly, and when things don’t work out, clients often wonder whether they can get their money back.
That’s the question a San Diego couple is now facing after paying thousands of dollars to an immigration attorney they later fired, saying their confidence in him faded just days into the relationship.
Guillermo Olozagaste and Ayari Giselle asked for their $6,000 back nine days after giving it to an immigration attorney.
Trying to stay together in the U.S.
Guillermo Olozagaste and Ayari Giselle say they hired attorney Alan Anzarouth to help Guillermo remain in the United States.
Olozagaste immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico as a minor and said the U.S. is the only home he has ever known.
“Right now, I’m, like, at the edge,” Olozagaste said. “It’s, like, everything’s at the edge right now. I don’t know what’s going to happen with my case.”
Giselle, sitting next to him, said they first saw Anzarouth represent clients at an immigration hearing in early September and were quite impressed with his work.
“He seemed knowledgeable,” Giselle said. “He seemed trustworthy. It wasn’t just one that he represented that day. He seemed like he had experience, and I did some research.”
Giselle added that the research checked out.
The couple scheduled a meeting, but according to them, the attorney did not show up on time.
“The attorney wasn’t there, so we called him: ‘Hey, we’re already here,’ ” Giselle said. “No response.”
Giselle said he called later to let them know he was running late.
Despite that, the couple agreed to move forward and paid him $6,000 to begin working on Olozagaste’s case.
The couple said they received only this receipt after hiring the attorney.
Giselle said the attorney provided a receipt that included a summary of his legal strategy, a payment plan and the total cost. She said he told them a contract would be ready at their next appointment, nine days later.
But about 20 minutes before that meeting, the couple said, they received another call.
“He’s like, ‘I can’t make it to the appointment, I’m stuck in LA,”’ Olozagaste recalled.
Relationship with attorney breaks down
That’s when the couple said their confidence dropped. They texted Anzarouth to terminate his services and requested a full refund.
In a text response, Anzarouth apologized for canceling the appointment, stated that Giselle had told him a contract was not necessary and asserted that the $6,000 retainer wasn’t refundable.
The back-and-forth continued. Texts show that Anzarouth told the couple he had already spent at least five hours researching the case and eventually sent them a $3,500 check.
Giselle said they did not cash it and returned it because they never received documentation showing how the remaining money was spent.
“The more I researched about this, the more I found that attorneys needed to handle that accounting in a specific way,” Giselle said.
Your rights when hiring an attorney
According to Veronica Trejo with the State Bar of California, Giselle is correct.
Veronica Trejo from CalBAR said attorneys need to manage their clients’ payments with transparency, as outlined in a contract.
“By law, any agreement that is for $1,000 or more should be in writing,” Trejo said.
While the state bar has not ruled on the case, Trejo explained that contracts with attorneys should include a general description of services, an outline of rates and fees, a clear understanding of duties and expectations for both parties, and signatures.
Trejo also explained how attorneys must handle client payments.
“An accounting of the funds earned — so, the client should get an accounting to see where the money was spent,” Trejo said.
And if, for whatever reason, representation ends prematurely, clients may be able to get some of their money back, according to Trejo.
“If the representation ends and the work isn’t completed, then at that point, there is a duty to refund any unearned fees,” Trejo said.
NBC 7 reached out to Anzarouth multiple times for his account of what happened. He declined to discuss the matter. He did text the couple to let them know he welcomes the opportunity to respond with the truth about their relationship.
Giselle and Olozagaste have since filed a complaint with the State Bar of California, saying they never received a written contract and an itemized bill or refund of unearned fees.
As the case moves forward, the couple said they will continue to build their life together while still trying to resolve Olozagaste’s immigration status.
“I don’t want to say, like, ‘Oh, we could go and hire another attorney,’ but at least we can do that, ” Giselle said, sobbing. “There are some people that can’t.”
Giselle and Olozagaste said they do not question the attorney’s legal expertise but said his lack of punctuality during those first meetings ultimately led them to end the relationship.
This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication.