Lawyers
 

I need the services of a lawyer. I talked to one today, and he wants a deposit of $x in cash. I'm a little anxious about asking him again what that does for me, so I'm asking here...

It's a pretty fair chunk of change! So, what's it for? Will his services end up costing a lot more? Or is this basically his pay and if things go easier than he expects I get some money back... ?

This sounds to me like an advance in payment for his services. When the case is over, from my estimation, you will still have to pay him some more money for his services.

Most of the time it really depends what your crime was and how bad it is for him to determine what he has to do.