when I tried the transfer , it was not yet in redemption period. Neither registrar told me there would be any problem , I got an "authorization code" to "unlock " the domain. I gave that to the new registrar , a few days later I am notified the transfer failed. I forgot about it and hated the idea of having to call them again about this, when I came round to doing it almost 2 weeks later , Melbourne IT said it was in redemption . What I think happened is that it was never unlocked, there was no reason the transfer would fail. I tried to find out at the new registrar whether they got all the info they needed (right code etc.) however they can't tell me that , just that it failed because it had "client transfer prohibited " status if I remember the exact terms. I then assume that I did everything right, but that the domain was not unlocked. Now because of this I am trapped, either I lose my domain or I have to pay the fee to the old registrar. It really looks to me like an organized ripoff. Looks like domain was never "unlocked", I was leaving them and they clearly had an incentive to do that and charge me afterwards. Between that and the tripling of the webhosting fees at Yahoo, and Google total ripoff rates , I am just disgusted of the industry.
Next time, you should do a little more research. There are places with good and with bad reps. This is easily available on the web.
you dont need a lawyer. who is your domain registrar? you can just transfer it from there. to sell domains it depends on the name. if its something very common name and hard to get, then you might be able to get some good money for it, if its just your company name and you havent sold the company then it might be difficult. let me know if you have any questions.