retainer

"In the American version, it's a very expensive format, having a writers' room and keeping a cast of actors on retainer, essentially, the whole time. That's really expensive," Lewis told BBC Radio 4's PM programme.

I updated her about retainers secured, projects completed, invoices sent out.

He also insisted that his client only ever paid Cohen for his legal work, subject to a retainer that was never documented.

Cohen said he submitted monthly invoices for a year for legal work he never actually performed, pursuant to a purported retainer agreement that he said did not exist.

The checks’ stubs falsely say they were for a “retainer”; the false invoices say, “per retainer”; and the vouchers say the same.