Learn how to end client relationships ethically, professionally, and in full compliance with legal rules.
Learn how to remain professional, stay in compliance, and prevent pitfalls when terminating a relationship with a client. Chances are you’ve experienced an attorney-client relationship that either makes you uncomfortable, scream, or wish you’d never taken the case. Attorneys often face situations where they need (or want) to terminate a client relationship for one reason or another. These reasons may range from conflicts of interest, unlawful behavior, inability to fulfill obligations (by either client or attorney), or fundamental disagreements. When is withdrawal from a case required? When is it optional? What ethical obligations must be considered in the termination of such a relationship? What steps can be taken to stay in compliance with ethical rules, avoid discipline or professional liability, and prevent the pitfalls that may occur when firing a client? This topic will reveal guidelines for deciding when to fire which clients and how to go about it if the relationship has become problematic.Agenda
Guidelines for Deciding If or When to Fire a Client- Rules of Professional Conduct
- When You Must Withdraw
- Violation of Law or Ethics Rules
- Impairment
- Discharged
- When You Can Withdraw
- Client Consent
- No Adverse Effect
- You’ve Been Used
- Fundamental Disagreements
- Unfulfilled Obligations
- Unreasonable Burden
- The Pareto Principal
- Opportunity Costs and Cost Benefit Analysis
- Lead, Follow, or Get out of the Way
- Communication and Expectations
- Resolution With Updates to Written Contracts
- When to Get Court Approval
- Protect the Client’s Interests
- Remain Professional
- Consider a Referral
- Review Your Contract
- End It Quickly
- Accommodate Unstable Clients
- Plan Ahead, Make It a Process
Speaker(s)
Noel R. Bagwell, III, Esq.Counsel & Clarity
- Operates Counsel & Clarity™ a brand encompassing his law firm and resilient leadership coaching practice in Middle Tennessee, near Nashville
- Is a partner in Industria Business Lawyers, a distributed firm based in Washington, D.C., where he serves as the Director of the Fractional Chief Legal Officer Practice Group
- Has won numerous awards, including the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Attorney for Justice award for his pro bono work with veteran entrepreneurs, as well as the Clarksville, TN Mayor’s Certificate (2019) for his contributions to the business community in that city, which, in 2019, Money magazine named the Best Place to Live in America
- Exclusively works with business clients to transform their legal support from a cost center to a profit engine, through Counsel & Clarity’s Fractional Chief Legal Officer service offering, Profit from Legal™
- Author of several books, including Lead Again: A Modern Guide to Resilience (2024), God in the Machine: Exploring Faith in a Simulated Universe (2024), How to Structure Your Business for Success (2020). He’s also produced and hosted two podcasts - The Honest Lawyer Podcast and the Profit from Legal Podcast; and he is a prolific author of print and electronic articles for the Nashville Bar Journal, the Counsel & Clarity blog, and various other outlets.
- J.D. Degree, Cumberland School of Law at Samford University; Scholar of Merit: Economic Analysis of Law; B.A. Degree in Philosophy, minor in international studies, Austin Peay State University
