GPs call them “heart-sink patients”: the people for whom you just can’t do anything right. In the legal world, the euphemism is the “difficult” client.
They might be constantly chasing you for updates, badgering you on costs or endlessly trying to stretch out the scope. All very annoying but, unfortunately, part of the job. But what can you do when the difficulty becomes unbearable and when you think you have to – for the sake of your own sanity, at least – disinstruct?
Once again, the official guidance is patchy. There are, however, a few generally accepted principles:
There must be a good reason to terminate the retainer.
So what is a good reason? Well, a breakdown of trust and confidence between you and the client is a major one. You need to be able to point to clear evidence that this is the case; this will justify your actions, both to the client and to LeO or the SRA if things get that far.
Examples include:
- A client who is constantly complaining or threatening to go above your head to your supervisor – they don’t have confidence in the work you are doing on their behalf;
- A client who questions or disagrees with your advice (perhaps someone who is relying on Judge GPT to do so);
- A client who alleges that you have made a mistake. Now, we all make mistakes and you may well have made one: perhaps a tiny misstatement, perhaps something potentially a little more significant. If you’ve spotted it, rectified it and there is no harm to the client (and no possibility of an own interest conflict), it could be fine for you to carry on acting. Not so, however, if the client is constantly referring back to it, and questioning your advice in light of that (“remember when you got it wrong, so how can I trust you now?”)
The trust and confidence doesn’t go one way, though. You can lose trust and confidence in your client, and that can form a reasonable basis for disinstruction. You just can’t work together anymore.
- Poor, inconsistent or otherwise woolly instructions would be an obvious one. This could have other things in play, including whether you are confident in your client’s capacity or their understanding of the matter, what their motivations are and, ultimately, whether continuing to act on their behalf is in their best interests. If the way they are instructing you means that you simply can’t get the case further, or you believe that you’ll never be able to achieve what they are looking for, you would not be acting in their best interests to continue.
- Another good reason to walk away is a client who doesn’t pay. I’ll say it loudly for those in the back: you are not obliged to work for a client for free. If a client does not pay a bill which has been properly delivered, for work properly carried out, and within the parameters of any agreements they have made with you, you can treat that as a basis for disinstructing.
Of course, in practice, you might want to give them some grace by agreeing a discount or a payment plan: this is a commercial decision. In many cases, the (grudging) decision is that it makes sense to proceed with the case as that’s the most likely way for you to get paid, from damages perhaps. However, you do not have to.
Similarly, if you’ve had a client in the past who was a late payer, you don’t have to accept new work from them. In fact, many firms will move such clients onto a “black list”: when they come to you with a new matter, the response is “thanks, but no thanks”.
Your withdrawal must not prejudice or damage the client’s case.
Complying with this means actually telling the client that you are not going to work for them anymore, rather than simply ghosting them. It means getting their file over either to them, or to their new legal advisor, as promptly and easily as you can.
It could also extend to your signposting them to someone who could help, but be thoughtful here: is your fellow lawyer going to be pleased that you’ve dropped them in it? Pointing them to the Law Society’s Find A Solicitor function could be a better option.
You must give the client reasonable notice.
Closely linked to prejudicing or damaging a client’s case, this is the one that strikes fear particularly into the hearts of litigators, family lawyers or employment specialists – anyone who has Court deadlines looming.
Historically, this has been tightly interpreted: if there’s a Court or filing date coming up, you need to be absolutely sure that your withdrawal is reasonable based on timings. The recent case of Evans v Acuity Law Ltd [2025] EWHC 1661 (SCCO) was striking, however: the Judge agreed with the law firm’s action in withdrawing two days before a hearing.
Why did the Judge support what, on the face of it, seems a very tight withdrawal? There are a number of instructive factors:
- The advice given was clearly documented, in particular that which related to unusual costs (the Judge held that the law firm was entitled to recover its costs, against the client who argued that this was a breach of contract and therefore nothing was owed by him);
- The client had been kept up-to-date throughout the matter and, again, this was clearly recorded; and
- The solicitor had identified and addressed, with the client, the breakdown in trust and communication.
On the facts, therefore, not only was the firm’s action considered reasonable, and taken with reasonable notice, but the law firm was entitled to its costs.
When it’s time to instruct other people.
Lawyers want to do the best for their clients and they want to be appreciated for it. Admitting that you can’t meet a client’s expectations is tough, but it’s not an admission of professional failure. Being able to identify that you simply can’t carry on working for them may well be in their best interests, and yours. But it’s hard to do, not least because it can be pretty awkward to point out to the client that things are difficult.
As ever, documenting all of your interactions with the client is key. Being open and honest about costs, in particular, but also about the merits of the case and any difficulties you can see is vital. Similarly, don’t shy away from highlighting any situations where you don’t consider the client’s conduct is appropriate (whether that’s in terms of how they communicate with you or your colleagues, their actions or their instructions).
Putting it on record that you are concerned about the relationship means that, when it breaks down, you can make it clear: “It’s not me, it’s you”.
