Client care letter template
A client care letter is the letter a solicitor sends when taking on a new matter, confirming the instructions, who will do the work, the charges and the terms on which the firm acts. This version is a solicitors' letter for England and Wales with the terms of business attached: scope and exclusions, a fixed fee or hourly rates with an estimate, complaints and the Legal Ombudsman, regulation and insurance, client money, identity checks and the client's data. It goes out for every new matter, with the client, the work and the charges changing each time.
Made by DocuWeave. Use at your own discretion.
What changes each time
19 values. Everything else is your wording, kept exactly.
The firm and the client
- Firm name
- Firm address
- Client's full name
- Client's address
- Matter reference
The matter and who handles it
- Short description of the matter
- Work in scope, one line per item
- Work outside scope
- Fee earner's name
- Fee earner's job title
- Complaints partner's name
Charges
- Fixed fee amount
- Fee earner's hourly rate
- Estimate of costs
- Disbursements
- Billing
Regulation and insurance
- Insurer's name
- Insurer's address
- Documents needed for identity checks
The rules it usually needs
Written in plain English when the template is set up.
- One of several wordings
“Charges are either a fixed fee or hourly rates with an estimate.”
For a house sale on a fixed fee, the fixed-fee wording is used and the hourly-rate paragraphs are left out.
- Once for each item
“A line for each item of work in scope, each item outside it and each disbursement.”
Three pieces of work, one exclusion and two disbursements give three, one and two lines.
- Only when…
“Include the right to cancel and the cancellation form only if the client is a consumer instructing at a distance or away from the office.”
When a private client instructs by email without meeting, the cancellation section and form are included.
- Only when…
“Include the costs limit, the other party's costs and the liability cap only when they apply.”
With no agreed cap and no other side to pay costs, those paragraphs are left out.
Questions people ask
What must a client care letter include?
Usually who will do the work and who supervises it, what the work is, the fee or how it will be worked out, payment terms, and how to complain, including the right to go to the Legal Ombudsman where it applies. The SRA's codes of conduct set out what clients must be told.
Is a client care letter the same as a letter of engagement?
In practice, yes. The covering letter confirms the instructions and the fee, and the attached terms of engagement set out the standard terms on which the lawyer acts.
Can a business client complain to the Legal Ombudsman?
Not always. Most businesses are excluded unless they are micro-enterprises, as are larger charities, clubs and trusts. The letter states the thresholds, and points to the firm's own complaints procedure first.
Does the client need to sign it?
The letter asks the client to sign and return the acceptance, or to confirm by email where the firm allows it. Instructions given after receiving the letter can also count as acceptance, but a signed copy is clearer.
Can I use my firm's own client care letter?
Yes. Upload your own Word or PDF letter, whether a solicitor's or a barrister's, and DocuWeave turns it into a template in your wording.
Use this template
It opens in DocuWeave as a template you can check, change and publish. Nothing is used until you do.