05/27/2026
Somewhere right now, a client hired an attorney on Monday about a dispute with their neighbor and is calling a local TV station on Wednesday to give their side of the story.
They have no idea it's a problem.
The lawyer will find out when the broadcast airs. Maybe a day later. And there will be nothing in the engagement letter about it, because there never is.
Here's the thing about engagement letters: most of them read like a risk management committee wrote them a decade ago and nobody has touched them since. Fees, billing increments, withdrawal conditions. Necessary, sure. But that's it.
Meanwhile, that document is the first substantive thing a new client receives after deciding to trust you with their problem. They're reading it with more attention than they'll give almost anything else in the relationship.
And we hand them fine print.
ABA Formal Opinion 523 just confirmed that engagement letters can include client obligations tied to the representation itself, not just payment. Press statements. Communication cadence. Staffing changes. Honest disclosure. The stuff that, when it's not spelled out at the signing, becomes the slow-burn frustration three months later.
Two ways to write the same provision:
"Client agrees that any public statements regarding this matter shall require prior consultation with counsel."
Or:
"Because your public statements can affect your attorney-client privilege, we'll ask that you reach out before speaking to the media so we can protect your interests."
Same provision. One is written for the file. The other is written for the client.
Most engagement letters are written for the file.
What's one thing you wish your clients understood at signing that they end up learning the hard way three weeks in?
