About This Template
When law firms decline inquiries, an important risk management step is to decline using a standardized Declination Letter to formally inform a prospective client that the firm will not be accepting their case. Issuing this letter immediately clarifies that no attorney-client relationship has been formed, reducing the firm's potential liability and starting the running of the statute of limitations. This is a non-negotiable tool for sound risk management and efficient conflict checking processes.
AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD IN:
Clio Draft
Microsoft Word
Jurisdiction Notes
The language regarding the non-existence of an attorney-client relationship and the warning about the statute of limitations is crucial and must align with the Rules of Professional Conduct in your specific state or country. While the template is general, the specific deadline warnings may require customization based on the prospective client's jurisdiction and area of law.
Attorneys should document the sending of this letter in their conflict-checking system for compliance purposes.
What is this template?
This is a formal communication sent to an individual who has sought legal services but whose case the firm has chosen not to accept. The Declination Letter template explicitly states that the firm is not entering into an attorney-client relationship, strongly advises the prospective client to seek other counsel promptly, and warns them of any impending statutes of limitations that might affect their claim. It is an essential risk management document to prevent the imposition of an inadvertent attorney-client relationship.
Disclaimer
This template and the information on this page are for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. They are not a substitute for consulting with a qualified legal professional. The use of this template does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Customize in Clio Draft
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Clause library
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E-signature
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How to Customize
With Clio Draft
If this template is available in your region, you can activate it in your Clio Draft account. It will then be pre-filled with information from your contacts and matters, helping you save time.
- Click Request Template, and complete the Request Information form.
- Open the activation email to activate the template in Clio Draft.
- In Clio Draft, go to Library and select the Court forms subtab.
-
Select a category to view all the court forms associated with that
category.
- Find the form that you need. You can use the search bar to search by form number or form title.
- Optional: To preview the form, click the Actions dropdown and then select Preview.
- Click the Actions dropdown and then select Create form template.
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At this stage, you can configure any fields on the template that will
remain consistent across multiple matters and specific practice areas.
- Purple fields: These fields are highlighted in purple because they are connected to linked fields that will automatically insert information entered on the Populate page. If you fill in a purple field, the data in that field will always populate when you draft a document from this form template and will not be overwritten by text entered on the populate page.
- Blue fields: These fields are highlighted in blue because they are unique to a specific matter. You will enter this information after you generate the form template, on the Populate page.
For detailed instructions for drafting form templates and more information about Clio Draft, see Clio Draft: Form Templates and Clio Draft: Draft and Manage Documents.
Without Clio Draft
You can download this template as a Microsoft Word document. You can also learn more about how Clio Draft can automate your document workflows and request a demo.
- Click Request Template.
- Open the email from Clio and download the Microsoft Word template.
- Set up Word document templates. This allows you to edit relevant merge fields in the document.