13.8
Preparing to Leave

Before informing the firm of a plan to resign, a departing lawyer should be mindful of the following considerations. 

  • Many firms will not allow lawyers to remain in the office after learning that they are about to leave. Have a plan that will allow you to commence practice right away, in the event you are asked to leave immediately upon giving notice. Do you have a computer, workspace, copies of upcoming events on your calendar or task manager, a telephone for clients to reach you, etc.? Most importantly, before you are able to practice, you must either have approval to operate a trust account or, alternatively, must have successfully applied for an exemption from the trust accounting rules. 
  • Compile a list of clients and current contact information for future conflict checks. List the firm clients and matters on which you might have an ongoing conflict. You may also need to use this list to notify clients of your departure in the event the firm does not agree to notify clients, or you otherwise need to notify clients on your own. 
  • Review any governing agreement, whether you are a partner or associate, to determine if there are any contractual provisions affecting departing lawyers. 

Once a lawyer has provided notice to the firm: 

  • the parties should negotiate the terms of the withdrawal, if not already provided for in an agreement; 
  • the firm should bill and collect on those files which are being transferred; 
  • if the departing lawyer is compensated based on a percentage of fees collected, compensation should be negotiated for work-in-progress that has not been billed and accounts receivable not yet collected at the time the lawyer departs; 
  • staff should be instructed on how to handle calls from clients or potential clients after the departing lawyer has left the firm. Clients must not be misled and the firm must not withhold information; 
  • the firm should agree with the departing lawyer about how emails or other communications directed to the departing lawyer will be managed; 
  • the Law Society should be notified of your change of contact particulars; 
  • your address and email address should be changed with all listservs and publications to which you subscribe; and 
  • your name should be removed from firm bank accounts, if applicable. 
When dealing with trust conditions governing the transfer of files to the departing lawyer and/or the new firm, it is improper to demand that the new firm retain the client file intact and return it on demand. The new firm cannot comply with such an undertaking without infringing on the client’s rights to the file. If the former firm wishes to protect itself, it should copy the file before turning it over and is entitled to retain the file for a reasonable period of time to do so. Such copying is done at the firm’s own expense and not that of the client or new law firm. 

Last modified: Monday, 21 August 2023, 2:30 PM