It is both a Law Society rule and good practice to write to clients with certain information before carrying out a new piece of work for them. These letters of engagement, if properly drafted, can have a key role to play in managing the relationship with your client, including managing the client’s expectations, and thereby minimising the risk of complaints and claims.

A number of claims under the Master Policy could have been prevented by better quality letters of engagement. We have therefore prepared this interactive guide, providing information on a variety of topics which you should consider including within your letters, together with some sample text.

While this is not a definitive document and is not intended to be used as a style or template it should help you in drafting the various elements within your own letters.

Let us explain how the guide works:

You can scroll through the various topics or if you are looking for information on specific areas then simply click on the appropriate tile on the second page and you’ll be taken straight to that section

You can return to the beginning of the document by clicking on the Home button, top left

For each area, you will find:

• What To Include – guidance on the purpose of each area
• Tips – some practical advice and assistance on what to do and why
• Sample Content – some draft content which you may consider including in your own letters
• A footnote flagging if the content is mandatory, recommended or optional in terms of Law Society regulations or other regulations and where mandatory, providing the derivation i.e. which of the regulations relate to that point

Copying Sample Text – if you want to copy any of the sample text then within Adobe Acrobat click on the ‘highlight text’ button at the top – it looks like a pen or pencil - and you can then highlight the text and then copy and paste it into your own document.

As always, we are keen to receive feedback and we would love to hear your views on its usefulness. If you have any suggested amendments, again we’d be happy to consider those.

Please contact Matthew Thomson or Anna Forsyth.