Write your non‑engagement letter
For a matter you can’t take. Fill in a few details and copy a short letter that says you won’t represent them and haven’t formed a view on their matter. Nothing you type leaves this page.
Your letter
Plain text. Use your firm’s own wording wherever it has some.
Non-engagement letter
Decline before you hear the story
With Tellbrief, a new client’s answers wait behind the names. You see only the names until you clear them. If you decline, the brief is deleted unread, so “we haven’t reviewed the matter” stays true. If you take it, a brief opens with the issues to raise, what to ask and the documents to request.
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Why hearing less helps
The duty to a prospective client applies even when you don’t take the matter. Under Rule 1.18, a lawyer who “received information from the prospective client that could be significantly harmful to that person in the matter” may be kept from representing the other side, and that can reach the lawyer’s firm.1 Asking for names first, and declining before the details, keeps what you hear small. Follow your firm’s own process and your state’s version of the rule.
What each part is for
- The decline comes in the first lines, so it can’t be missed.
- No view on the matter tells them not to read your silence as an opinion on their case.
- Time limits tell them not to wait. Use your firm’s usual wording if it has some.
- A referral service gives them somewhere to go next.
- Their documents go back, so nothing of theirs stays with you by accident.
When to send it
As soon as you decide, and in writing, so you both have the date on record. Keep a copy with your conflict records.
More: How to run a conflict check at a small law firm. Before the call: a consultation email template that asks for names first.
1. ABA Model Rule 1.18(c), as Minnesota adopted it (opens in a new tab). General information, not legal advice. The wording is a starting point; keep your firm’s own language.