There are incidences when, the silence of a lawyer was taken by a client as acceptance of the law case and representation. The court recognizes that there is attorney- client relationship, if the attorney communicates with the client about the representation; otherwise, it is not necessary that the lawyer is representing a client, even if the client has misconceptions that, the lawyer is representing them. For example, a client hands over documents to the lawyer for representing them in the court case. The attorney goes through the document but does not inform the client about representation or non-representation or keeps silence. In such case, the silence of the attorney can be taken by the client as the representation by the lawyer, whereas the fact is just opposite, as he may not be representing the individual.
These reasons make it necessary that the lawyer should duly inform the existing or new client about non representations. The client can be communicated through non-engagement letter.
The basic content of the non-engagement letters must include:
Non engagement or Declined Representation: The letter should explicitly inform about the matter and non representation. It is not necessary to mention about the evaluation of the merit or demerit of the case.
Necessity of dates: The non –client should be informed about any pertinent statute of limitations and other imminent deadlines.
Referral: It is customary for the attorney, while declining to represent a non-client, should recommend consultation with other lawyers by the individual. It must also be noted that, specific referral should be avoided, because, if such referral do not produce any desired result then, non-client may opt for the “negligent claim”.
SAMPLE NONENGAGEMENT LETTER -RE: ____________________[Subject]
Dear [Name]:
Pursuant to my letter of [date], we have received [legal documents you delivered to determine______________ [subject matter]. We appreciate due importance and confidence shown by you in our firm but, we are unable to represent you in this law case due to various reasons.
We are returning the original documents provided by you for our review. By declining to represent your case, we are not questioning the merit of your position. In the mean time, we advise you to consult another lawyer to pursue your claim. Time limitations may affect your rights to pursue a claim; therefore, you should act promptly in consulting another lawyer, or otherwise pursuing your claim.
We thank you for your interest in our firm.
Sincerely,
[Insert Lawyer's Name]
[Insert Firm's Name]
Enclosure: Original Legal documents