Terminating a retainer: what rule 13 says and what your file note needs to show

What rule 13 actually says

The Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules (ASCR) apply as the Legal Profession Uniform Law Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules 2015 in NSW, Victoria and WA. Most other states and territories have adopted the same rules as local conduct rules, so check the version that binds you. Rule 13.1 reads:

The duty sits with the solicitor who has designated responsibility for the matter. The starting point is completion. Ending the retainer is the exception, and the file has to show which of the four exceptions applied.

The 2026 change: what just cause includes

Amendments to rules 8 and 13 commenced on 1 July 2026 in the Uniform Law jurisdictions (NSW, Victoria and WA), according to the Law Council of Australia's compilation of 19 June 2026. The Law Council noted the other jurisdictions were progressively adopting the same changes, so check your local rules. New rule 13.4 says just cause in r 13.1.3 includes:

• 13.4.1 instructions that require, or any circumstance where continuing the engagement would cause, a solicitor to breach their ethical duties and professional responsibilities;
• 13.4.2 any circumstance where a solicitor is no longer able to act in the client's best interests;
• 13.4.3 any circumstance where a client has not provided all information requested of them that is required to fulfil a solicitor's statutory obligations.

The list says "includes", so it is not closed. Non-payment under a costs agreement, a client who stops giving instructions, and a breakdown of trust have long been treated as possible just cause, and the Legal Practitioners' Liability Committee (LPLC) gives those as examples. It also warns that a heavy workload or a lack of staff is not just cause. Rule 13.4.3 arrived alongside the AML/CTF reforms that brought some legal services into that regime from 1 July 2026. A client who will not provide information you need for a statutory obligation now gives you express grounds to stop.

Reasonable notice

The rules do not set a number of days for r 13.1.3. What is reasonable depends on the matter: how close the next deadline is, how long it would take a new solicitor to get across the file, and why you are ending it. LPLC's guidance is that the client must not be disadvantaged by the termination, and that a conflict of interest may justify shorter notice than an unpaid invoice. Where continuing would itself breach your duties, a very short notice period may be reasonable, because you cannot keep acting in the meantime. Whatever you decide, your file note should say why the notice period you gave was reasonable for this client and this matter.

Criminal trials and legal aid (rules 13.2 and 13.3)

Rule 13.2 covers a client who is required to stand trial for a serious criminal offence. Failure to make satisfactory arrangements to pay your costs will not normally justify termination unless you have:

1. served written notice of your intention on the client a reasonable time before the trial date (or the start of the sittings in which the trial is listed), giving the client at least 7 days to make satisfactory arrangements to pay (r 13.2.1); and
2. given appropriate notice to the registrar of the court in which the trial is listed to start (r 13.2.2).

Rule 13.3 covers a legally assisted client whose grant of aid is withdrawn or otherwise terminated. You may terminate by giving reasonable notice in writing, so the client has a reasonable opportunity to make other arrangements to pay for the work still to come. In both cases the written notice and the date it was served belong on the file. For more on criminal files generally, see our guide to file notes in criminal law matters.

Matters before a court

Rule 13 is not the only layer in litigation. Each court's rules and practice notes set out how a solicitor comes off the record, usually by filing and serving a notice of ceasing to act, and some courts require leave in some circumstances, particularly once a matter is listed for hearing. Until that process is complete, expect the court and the other side to treat you as the solicitor on the record. Check the rules of the specific court before you send the termination letter, so the dates in the letter match what the court requires.

Termination scenarios at a glance

When the client ends it

A client can discharge the firm at any time (r 13.1.2). The call where they say they are moving firms is often short and tense, and it is the one that gets reconstructed from memory two years later when the client says nobody told them about a limitation date.

On the call and in the follow-up letter, cover the live deadlines, what is done and not done, the costs position and how the file gets to the new firm. Get a written authority before releasing documents to anyone other than the client. Our guide to what goes in a legal file note covers the general content.

Handing over the file: rules 14, 15 and 16

• Rule 14.1: on completion or termination, the client or former client, or another person they authorise, must be given any client documents (or copies of electronic documents) as soon as reasonably possible when the client asks, unless there is an effective lien.
• Rule 15.1: if you claim a lien for unpaid costs over documents essential to the client's defence or prosecution of current proceedings, and another solicitor is acting, you must deliver them up to that solicitor if they undertake to hold them subject to the lien with reasonable security for the unpaid costs, or if you agree to them paying, or arranging with the client to pay, your costs when the proceedings finish. Otherwise, on receiving reasonable security for the unpaid costs, you must deliver them to the client.
• Rule 14.2: you may destroy client documents 7 years after completion or termination, unless client instructions or legal obligations say otherwise. Our guide on how long to keep file notes covers the other retention periods that can apply.
• Rule 16.1: you must not charge for storing or retrieving a former client's documents unless the client has consented to the charge.

The rules define client documents as documents to which a client is entitled. Not everything on the file falls into that category, and where the line sits for internal working papers is a question of law. If there is doubt about a particular document, get advice rather than guess. Either way, record in the file what was sent, to whom, when and how, and keep a copy of the covering letter and the client's authority.

What to put in the termination letter

• That the firm is ceasing to act, and the date it takes effect.
• The reason, where you can give it. For non-payment, refer to the costs agreement and the earlier warnings.
• Every live deadline: limitation dates, court dates, filing deadlines, settlement dates, statutory time limits. State them as dates, not "soon".
• What the client needs to do and by when, including a recommendation to get new representation promptly.
• Where there is a court matter, that you will file a notice of ceasing to act (or seek leave) and when.
• How the file will be handed over, what you need from them (an authority to release to the new firm), and whether a lien is claimed.
• The costs position: final bill to follow, any trust money held and how it will be dealt with.
• Your contact details for questions during the notice period.

What the file note should record

Rule 13 does not mention file notes, but a regulator, insurer or court will ask you to show which r 13.1 exception applied and that the notice was reasonable. We cover the wider duties in ASCR file note obligations. For a termination, the file should contain:

1. Date, time, who was present or on the call, and how contact was made (phone, in person, email).
2. Which r 13.1 exception applies, in plain words.
3. For firm-initiated termination: the facts that make it just cause, with dates of each earlier warning or request.
4. The notice given and why that period is reasonable given the next deadline.
5. Each live deadline you told the client about, and that you told them.
6. Advice given about the consequences of the termination and about getting new representation.
7. The client's response, in their words where it matters.
8. Court steps: notice of ceasing to act or leave application, and the date filed or served.
9. For r 13.2: date written notice was served, the trial date, the 7-day window, and the registrar notice.
10. File handover: authority received, what was sent, to whom, date, and any lien claimed or security accepted.
11. Trust money and the final bill.
12. Who in the firm approved the termination, if your firm requires sign-off.

Write it on the day. If your firm uses a file note compliance checklist, add these items to it.

Worked example: attendance note on ceasing to act

A fictional commercial dispute. The client has not paid two invoices under the costs agreement and has stopped responding to requests for instructions on a defence due in five weeks. The solicitor calls to tell the client the firm will cease to act.

It shows the r 13.1 exception, the just cause facts with dates, the notice period against the next deadline, the advice, the client's response and the handover plan. Nobody reading it in three years needs to ask the solicitor anything.

Getting the note written while the call is fresh

Termination calls are the ones solicitors least want to write up. If your calls already produce a transcript (Teams, Zoom, Aircall or Dialpad), CallNote turns it into an attendance note in your firm's format in about two minutes. It never records calls or joins a meeting. Publishing seals the note with a checksum, and later changes are added as amendments. There is no native LEAP, Smokeball or Actionstep integration, so the note goes onto the matter by copy and paste or PDF. See CallNote for law firms, or try the free attendance note generator.

Common questions