FirmHello
Tour Who it's for Features Security Pricing About
UK GBP

Currency and local tax terms

United States USD Canada CAD United Kingdom GBP Australia AUD
Get started
For law practices

A UK solicitor engagement letter, and the rules it must satisfy

The letter that opens a matter is also the document that decides how it closes: what was in scope, what the client owes, and who was allowed to give instructions.

Fee arrangements in a law practice are not purely a matter of contract. What has to be communicated, and in many cases put in writing before the work begins, is governed by the SRA Standards and Regulations — and the consequences of getting it wrong run from an unenforceable fee to a regulatory complaint.

Last reviewed against 7 primary sources.

Free download

Solicitor engagement letter

The full letter in Word and PDF, written for the United Kingdom, covering scope, fees, trust money and termination.

Download the PDF Download for Word

No email required.

Use the free engagement letter generator

Type in your firm, the client, the scope and the fee, and it writes a complete engagement letter for the United Kingdom, ready to print or save as a PDF. Nothing you type is stored.

Next step: send it to the client through FirmHello, where it stays on their record beside everything else they send you.

Get started

The template below is written as a client-facing letter rather than a retainer agreement in legalese, because a client who reads it is a client who cannot later say they did not understand it. Some firms call it a letter of engagement or a retainer letter; the rules above apply whatever it is called.

What a legal engagement letter has to settle

  1. 1

    Who the client is, and who is not

    In a company matter, the client is usually the company rather than the director sitting in front of you. In a family matter, it is one spouse. Saying so in writing prevents the most common conflict problem there is.

  2. 2

    The scope of the retainer, and its end

    The matter you are retained for, the steps included, and what is excluded — appeals, enforcement, tax advice, other jurisdictions. Say what event ends the retainer, because a matter that never formally ends is a limitation period problem waiting to happen.

  3. 3

    Fees, in the form the rules require

    The basis of the fee — hourly, fixed, contingency where permitted — the rates of everyone who will work on it, what disbursements are charged, and how often you bill. The floor is set by the SRA Standards and Regulations; your own regulator may require more.

  4. 4

    Money held on account

    How retainers and client money are held, which account they sit in, how they are applied to invoices, and what happens to the balance when the matter ends. This is the clause your regulator will read first.

The solicitor engagement letter

Written for United Kingdom. The downloads are the same text, as a Word document to edit and a PDF to put on your letterhead.

[Firm letterhead]

[Date]

[Client name]
[Client address]

Dear [Client contact],

Thank you, and who we act for

Thank you for instructing [Firm name]. This letter sets out the terms on which we will act. Our client in this matter is [Client name] and only [Client name]. We do not act for any related company, director, shareholder or family member unless we confirm that separately in writing.

The matter, and its scope

You have asked us to [describe the matter and the outcome sought]. Our retainer covers [list the steps included].

It does not cover [appeals, enforcement, tax advice, advice on the law of another jurisdiction, or any other matter]. If you would like us to act on any of those we will confirm a separate scope and fee first.

Who will do the work

[Name] will have day-to-day conduct of the matter, supervised by [Name]. We may involve others where it is more efficient, at the rates set out below. We will tell you if the person with conduct changes.

Fees, disbursements and billing

Our fees are charged [on a fixed basis of [amount] / at hourly rates of [rates]] in pounds sterling, in units of [number] minutes. Disbursements — [filing fees, experts, searches, travel] — are charged in addition, as incurred.

We invoice [monthly / on completion of each stage]. Invoices are payable within [number] days. We will give you an estimate for the matter as a whole and update it if it changes materially, but an estimate is not a cap unless this letter says it is.

Money held on your behalf

We ask for [amount] on account before we begin. Money you pay us on account is held in our [client / trust] account and applied to invoices as they are issued. Any balance is returned to you when the matter ends. [Interest is dealt with as follows.]

Conflicts and confidentiality

We have checked for conflicts of interest and are not aware of any. If one arises, we will tell you promptly and may have to stop acting. Everything you tell us is confidential and privileged, subject to the limited circumstances in which the law or our professional obligations require disclosure.

Ending the retainer

You may end this retainer at any time by telling us in writing. We may stop acting where we have good reason and reasonable notice, including where invoices remain unpaid or where a conflict arises. In either case fees and disbursements incurred to that point remain payable, and we will tell you what steps remain outstanding on the matter.

Your records and ours

At the end of the matter we will return your documents on request and keep our file for [number] years, after which it is destroyed. We hold your information in accordance with the UK GDPR. If you are not happy with our service, [describe the complaints procedure and the regulator's contact details].

Agreement

Please sign and return a copy of this letter. If you have any question about any part of it, ask before you sign.

[Name], [Firm name]

Agreed by [Client name]:

Signature ______________________ Date ____________

Before you use this

Supplied as-is, with no guarantee. These templates are general information, not legal advice, and not a substitute for it. Have your own legal adviser review and adapt one to your practice and your jurisdiction before you put it in front of a client. FirmHello accepts no responsibility or liability for any use made of them.

A solicitor's client care letter under the SRA rules

In England and Wales this is usually called a client care letter, and much of it answers the SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors: identify who you act for (8.1), give the best possible information on pricing and likely overall cost (8.7), and make sure clients understand their regulatory protections (8.11).

Paragraph 8.3 requires clients to be told in writing, at engagement, how to complain to you and of any right to go to the Legal Ombudsman, and when. A firm has eight weeks first; the Ombudsman's limit is one year from the problem or from when the client should have realised it.

Client account, not trust account

The SRA Accounts Rules call it a client account. Money held for fees before a bill is delivered is client money, paid promptly into a client account, and a bill or written notification of costs must come before it is transferred to pay you.

Published prices

The SRA Transparency Rules require firms offering certain services, among them residential conveyancing, uncontested estate administration and some employment tribunal claims, to publish price information and their complaints procedure. The letter's estimate should be consistent with it.

The letter is regulated too

Authorised firms must show their SRA number and the words "authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority" on letterhead and emails, so the letterhead line in this template needs both of them.

Scotland is separate

The SRA regulates solicitors in England and Wales. Complaints about lawyers in Scotland go first to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission, so the complaints wording in this edition will not fit a Scottish practice without rewriting.

Where legal engagement letters fail

Ambiguous about who the client is

The director assumes you act for them personally. When the company's interests and theirs diverge, that assumption becomes a conflict and a complaint.

An estimate treated as a cap

If the letter does not distinguish the two, the client will, and they will do it after the bill arrives.

No stated end

A retainer that never ends leaves you owing duties on a matter you stopped thinking about years ago.

Other engagement letters

What it is Engagement letters Template and samples Templates Appraisal Appraisal

Questions law practices ask

Is a written engagement letter mandatory?

It depends on where you practise and on the size and type of the matter. The starting point is the SRA Standards and Regulations, and several jurisdictions set written requirements of their own — in England and Wales, for example, the SRA Code requires the best possible information about pricing and likely overall cost at the outset. Check your own regulator before relying on anything here.

Does it need to be signed to be effective?

A signed copy is much stronger evidence, and in some jurisdictions the rules effectively require the client's agreement in writing. Where a client proceeds without signing, confirm in writing that the terms apply and keep the acknowledgement.

Can one letter cover several matters for the same client?

A standing terms-of-business letter plus a short matter-specific scope letter is a common arrangement and works well. What does not work is one letter from four years ago describing a different matter.

What about contingency or conditional fees?

They are permitted in some jurisdictions and for some matter types and prohibited in others, with their own disclosure requirements. This template does not attempt to cover them; take advice specific to your jurisdiction.

Sources

The primary sources this page is written against, last read against it on . Check them before relying on a detail; rules and thresholds change.

  1. Solicitors Regulation Authority SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors paras 8.1, 8.3, 8.4, 8.7, 8.11
  2. Legal Ombudsman How to complain to the Legal Ombudsman
  3. Legal Ombudsman Legal Ombudsman time limit from 1 April 2023
  4. Solicitors Regulation Authority SRA Accounts Rules 2.1, 2.3, 4.3
  5. Solicitors Regulation Authority SRA Transparency Rules
  6. Solicitors Regulation Authority SRA regulates solicitors and law firms in England and Wales
  7. Scottish Legal Complaints Commission SLCC is the first point of contact for all complaints about lawyers in Scotland

What changed

  • Added an editable Word (.docx) copy of the letter beside the PDF.
  • Added the section on what UK law adds, written from primary sources, and reviewed the shared letter text for wording that only US law supports.

The letter is the easy half

Sending it, getting it back signed, and finding it again in two years is the half that eats the week. That is what the portal is for.

No card and no sales call. If you would rather tell us about your firm first, use the longer form.