It's the process of giving someone else something of value now so that they agree to assume the risk of a future event on your behalf. (effectivecoverage.com)
In a firm of any size, there would be no time to do anything else if everyone was required to consider every retainer in the firm and what they know that is relevant. (slaw.ca)
I'd be happy to start the ball rolling by dealing with some issues relating to the papers mentioned above, but is this something else anyone would care to do? (realclimate.org)