Retainer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A retainer can be:

• an advanced payment of attorney fees
• a vassal in feudal Japan, often Samurai providing military services
• a person being part of the retinue (suite, train) of a dignitary, either performing personal services such as man servant, pageboy, bodyguard, or rather occasionally in proximity such as a minstrel
• the part of a contractually due sum that is paid in advance, while the balance will only follow after receipt on the counterpart in goods or services; also called advance payment or deposit
• Retainer (orthodontic device), a device in dentistry used to correct or keep teeth corrected
• an individual, in civil proceedings, assigned to maintain assets of an organization; for example, in a lawsuit between shareholders, a judge may be asked to replace an executive who holds shares with a retainer if they believe there is a danger of the executive running the company into the ground
• RFA Retainer (A329), an armament support ship
• Retainer agreement, a contract between two people or companies where one pays to reserve the other's time. The agreement includes the salary to be paid, the period of time to be reserved (for instance, one week per month), and details on the type and scope of work to be done by person or company under retainer