standinfor.me

Email templates · Law firm

Email template to end your attorney's representation

You have decided to stop working with your lawyer, whether because the case is stalling, communication has broken down, or you have found someone else. You can end the relationship at any time, for any reason. What you need from the outgoing lawyer is simple: written confirmation that they have stopped, your complete file, a final bill, and a refund of any unused retainer, the money you paid in advance that sits in the firm's trust account until it is earned. If a lawsuit is already filed, the lawyer must usually ask the court's permission to withdraw, and the court will want to know who represents you next, so line up the new lawyer first. An email gives a dated record of when you ended things.

Before you send

  • Your new lawyer's name, firm, and email, if you have one. The old firm can send the file straight there, which is faster and avoids you carrying boxes.
  • Any court deadlines, hearings, or filings due in the next month. Make sure someone is covering them before the old lawyer stops.
  • Your fee agreement, so you know how the final bill should be calculated. In a contingency case, the outgoing lawyer may claim a share of any eventual recovery for the work already done; ask your new lawyer how that is handled.
  • The retainer amount you paid and how much of it the last statement showed as unused.
  • A calm tone. The reason for leaving does not need to be in this email.
Subject Termination of representation, [your name and matter name or case number] 
Dear [attorney name],

I'm writing to let you know that I am ending your representation in [matter description or case number], effective [today / date]. Please stop all work on my behalf as of that date, other than anything required to protect my interests during the handover.

I have retained [new attorney name and firm], who will contact you about substitution of counsel. Please send my complete file, including pleadings, correspondence, discovery, and any documents I provided, to [new attorney email / me at my address] by [date].

Please also send a final itemized statement for work through the termination date and refund the unused portion of my retainer, which I understand to be about [amount], to [my address or original payment method].

Thank you for your work on this matter. Please confirm by reply that you have received this notice.

Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your phone number]

Everything in brackets is yours to fill in. Keep the rest as it is or change the tone to match how you write.

After you send

  • Expect an acknowledgment within a few days and, if a case is pending, a notice of withdrawal or substitution filed with the court. Your file and the retainer refund typically follow within a few weeks.
  • Your file belongs to you. A firm may keep copies and may not have to hand over its own internal notes, but in most states it cannot hold your file to force payment of a disputed bill. If it tries, say so in one short reply and involve your new lawyer.
  • If the final bill looks high, ask for an itemized statement before paying. Fees are still governed by the agreement you signed.
  • If the firm ignores you, will not release the file, or will not return the unused retainer, your state bar handles complaints about both.

Or don't send it yourself

Forward the job to myagent@standinfor.me and let StandIn run the whole thread.

StandIn is an email assistant that handles conversations with businesses for you. You write it one email saying what you need. It writes to the business, waits for the answer, follows up when they go quiet, pushes back on the number when it should, and brings the results back to your inbox for you to decide. You don't need to install an app or sign up. The first email you send is already the start of the task.

Hand this to StandIn opens an email to myagent@standinfor.me with the job already written out

To myagent@standinfor.me Subject End my lawyer's representation and get my file 
Hi StandIn,

Please handle ending my relationship with my current lawyer and getting my file and retainer back.

Current lawyer: [name, firm, email, and phone].
The matter: [description or case number, and whether a lawsuit is filed].
New lawyer, if any: [name, firm, and email, or "none yet"].
Upcoming deadlines: [dates, or "none that I know of"].
Retainer paid and unused balance: [amounts].
Where the file should go: [new lawyer / my address].

Send the termination notice, confirm the file transfer and refund, follow up until both are done, and tell me if the firm pushes back or the final bill looks wrong.

Thanks,
[Your name]

Related templates