A matter I recently handled for a friend reminded me of what I call the “no-fee fee letter” rule. As with some other ethical and disciplinary rules, procedures and protocols, it's not written down anywhere, but not complying with it can cause a lawyer problems.

We all know that Connecticut is one of the minority states that requires a written document when a lawyer is going to charge a client a fee. By rule and statute, if the matter involves a contingency fee, the writing must contain information about the statutory fee scheme and be signed by the client. I call those fee “agreements” because that's what they are: contracts.

For all other forms of representation, there's no ethics requirement of client signature, consent or agreement other than what might be implied by the client's acceptance of the services. What the rule does require is a writing, prepared and transmitted by the lawyer at the time of or within 10 days of first providing services, which outlines three things: the scope of the representation, the basis or rate of the fee or charge and whether, and to what extent, the client is responsible for costs. (There's a more robust rule for limited scope reps, but that's for another day.)