Retainer

1. The right of retainer ls the right which the executor or administrator of a deceased person has to retain out of the assets sufficient to pay any debt due to him from the deceased in priority to the other creditors whose debts are of equal degree. 3 Steph. Comm. 263. Mlller v. Irby, 63 Ain. 483; Taylor v. Deblois, 23 Fed. Cas. 765.
2. In English practice, a "retainer," as applied to counsel, is commonly used to signify a notice given to a counsel by an attorney on behalf of the plaintiff or defendant in an action, in order to sechre his services as advocate when the cause comes on for trial. Holthouse. Agnew v. Walden, 84 Ala. 502, 4 South. 672; Blackman v. Webb, 38 Kan. 668, 17 Pac. 464.
3. A servant, not menial or familiar,—that is, not continually dwelling in the house of his master, but only wearing his livery, and attending sometimes upon special occasions, —is, in old English usage, called a "retainer." Cowell.

— General retainer. A general retainer of an attorney or solicitor "merely gives a right to expect professional service when requested, but none which is not requested. It binds the person retained not to take a fee from another against his retainer, but to do nothing except what he is asked to do, and for this he is to be distinctly pnid." Rhode Island Exch. Bank v. Hawkins, 6 ItI. 206.

— Special retainer. An engagement or retainer of an attorney or solicitor for a special and designated purpose; as, to prepare and try a particular case. Agnew v. Walden, 84 Ala. 502, 4 South. 672.