Lawyers

You're looking to hire a lawyer, or maybe you're a law firm about to sign a new client. Either way, you'll want to create an Attorney Engagement Letter to help protect your legal rights and obligations. Get the letter in writing before signing on for legal services, so that both parties can be on the same page. Use the Attorney Engagement Letter document if: You are a lawyer or law firm providing services to another business or individual. You will be contracting with a lawyer or law firm to receive legal services. Whether you're a lawyer or just looking to hire one, an Attorney Engagement Letter is a handy tool for outlining the attorney-client relationship. In essence, it documents the terms and conditions of the sale of legal services to a business or individual. With this information in writing, you'll have a better idea of your legal rights and responsibilities. Your Attorney Engagement Letter should include details like: the name of the client; the name of the attorney or law firm providing legal services; a description of the legal services being provided; how the attorney will be compensated; whether the attorney will charge hourly rates, or whether the law firm charges different rates for different members; the terms of the payment; whether the attorney charges a deposit, and how much; and which state's laws will govern this agreement. Other names for this document: Legal Engagement Letter, Lawyer Engagement Letter, Attorney Client Engagement Letter,

Every first-year law student learns the essentials of contract law—an offer, acceptance of the offer, a lawful object, and consideration. By the time many law school graduates are out in practice, the essentials about a meeting of the minds, mutual consideration, performance, and delivery vaporize amid the everyday exigencies of day-to-day practice. Between marketing a practice, memorizing the latest amendment to the Federal Rules of Evidence, and going to trial, a vital step must be taken between lawyer and client, and that’s the engagement letter and fee agreement. The agreement memorializes the terms of hire. What is an engagement letter? It’s a document directed to the client, signed by both lawyer and client, reduced to writing, setting forth the exact duties of the law firm, the lawyer, and the client. The agreement identifies what the lawyer will—and won’t—do for the client. Generally created after the initial conference with the client, during which a tentative agreement has been reached, the engagement letter identifies the nature of the problem (e.g., a criminal case or personal injury matter), names the expected adverse parties, and may set forth the date of the incident to serve as a trigger for statutes of limitation. Setting the parameters of the attorney-client relationship, it can define when it begins and when it ends, what happens during the process, and even how materials received by the law firm will be stored and destroyed. It’s about the money, honey, describing how fees will be set (e.g., an hourly rate, a flat fee, a contingent fee, etc.), what other expenses will be paid, an estimate of the fees, a deposit of funds, how withdrawals from a trust account will be made, and what happens when the till runs dry. If someone other than the client has agreed to pay the fee, then a separate agreement to guarantee payment of fees is necessary. The agreement can provide how fee disputes will be settled, even providing an escape clause permitting the lawyer to withdraw if fees aren’t paid. The agreement can outline the obligations of both the client and the lawyer. The lawyer can agree to promptly return all phone calls within 24 hours, correspond on a regular basis about the progress of the case, and provide court decisions promptly. The client may agree to promptly return all phone calls, respond to all correspondence, cooperate with the lawyer, meet with the lawyer when requested, and advise the lawyer of any changes in his or her situation. Clients rarely retain lawyers for unimportant, insignificant, paltry matters, so the engagement letter should be treated with at least as much importance as that given to the purchase of an engagement ring or new car. Give the client the opportunity to think about the engagement letter overnight. Answer any additional questions the client may have. Provide a duplicate of the signed agreement to the client. Just as important are non-engagement letters to send a clear signal to the would-be client that the lawyer isn’t representing him or her. The non-engagement letter can take many forms—for situations ranging from “We’ve researched and examined your case, but we’re declining to take it,” to a conflict of interest, to “We haven’t heard any more from you since the time you dropped by the office.” The disengagement letter is used when a lawyer wants to leave the relationship for some reason, mostly commonly nonpayment of fees. A letter declining further representation warns a client who’s dropped from the radar that the lawyer will be closing the file unless he or she hears otherwise, and it also warns the client that deadlines may loom. When the purposes of the engagement letter have been fulfilled and the job’s done, a closing letter finishes off the relationship and officially closes the file, telling the client what happened and how the files will be stored. While there’s no set format, an engagement letter should leave nothing to memory or chance. Not only invaluable protection in case of ethical complaints, it also shows the client that you take your relationship with the client seriously. In the pages that follow, P.A. Henrichsen, a lawyer in West Des Moines, Iowa, shares his form engagement, non-engagement, disengagement, and closing letters with you. Adapt these to your practice and your clients’ needs.

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