A law student entered into a contract with a lawyer to serve as an intern. By the terms of their agreement the law student was to intern at the lawyer’s office for one month and would receive $500 to do all of the assigned work during that month. The intern began working and he knew that he could probably finish all of the work assigned in about two weeks. However, the intern became lazy and started surfing the internet, texting his friends, and watching TikTok. He did not actually start on the work assigned to him until two weeks was left of his internship. By that time, the law student realized he had underestimated the time it would take him to finish all the assigned work.

The student told the lawyer and accurately informed her that it was impossible to finish the work in the time left unless he could get one of his law school buddies to help out. He also stated that to do so would require an additional charge of $125 for the work so he could pay his buddy and keep all of the $500 for himself. The lawyer, stressed out with a trial coming up, told the law student that she apparently had no choice to pay “whatever it takes” to get the work done as scheduled. The law student brought his buddy along to help finish the work and paid him $125. The lawyer only wants to pay the law student $500, but the law student is demanding $625.

How much is the lawyer legally obligated to pay for the services rendered?