Tip of the Month

Client Disengagement Letters

Arguably, use of an “engagement” letter would obviate the use of a “disengagement” letter. From a theoretical standpoint, we agree, but strongly recommend your use of a disengagement letter anyhow. Redundancy in your procedures for avoiding lawyer professional liability claims shows an important commitment to protection of your livelihood. Often, claims made against attorneys involve clients misunderstanding of when legal services and representation have ended. Your perspective might well be that you are hired to take care of a specific matter; but often your client thinks of you as his or her attorney and assumes you are looking out after his or her interest overall or in any tangential issues that may develop out of your specific engagement. Use of a properly structured disengagement letter can overcome this misunderstanding before it ever becomes a problem. Once again, do not put together an abstruse contract-like letter that your client needs help to understand. Make the disengagement letter clear and easy to understand from the perspective of someone who is not an attorney. The letter should clearly state that your engagement has ended and that you do not represent the client any longer and that any additional legal services sought or needed by the client must be subject of a new and separate engagement.

We further recommend you adopt a procedure to use another related type letter in all of those situations where you have been contacted, whether by phone, fax, email, mail, or in person and you have been asked for your advice or counsel or your perspective on a legal issue. You may have offered marginal advice or you have outright declined to offer any advice whatsoever, but we recommend you use a Letter of Nonrepresentation to clarify that you have not been engaged to represent the inquirer, that you acknowledge that you have been approached with an inquiry and that you emphatically disavow that any attorney/client relationship has been established. Further, you should advise the inquirer to seek legal representation elsewhere (you do not have to be specific as to person or place) for the issue. Keep your copy of the communication in a specific location for all such communiqués so you have access to it if needed in the future. Proof of delivery can be enhanced if you use at least 2 methods for the attempt, such as mail and fax or fax and email for example.

Just a word about the overall benefit of adopting risk management procedures in your practice. In addition to the obvious protection this provides to your livelihood, it will help reduce the overall stress level you endure as a result of your chosen profession. Think of risk management as a set of procedures for keeping each client matter in a box. You define the limits of the box, not the client. You maintain control, not the client. Your life remains in control. When clients start taking control…your life can become nightmarish.