Many lawyers in private practice dedicate significant time to developing new business. Indeed, fee-paying clients are what keep the lights on, so it is important for lawyers to continue to develop their client database.

However, sometimes a lawyer must make the difficult decision to withdraw from the representation of a client. The decision to end a representation can be a difficult one. But many lawyers who have had to defend against legal malpractice claims often note a time in the underlying client representation when they knew something was "off"—and had they made a change sooner, the lawyer may have been able to prevent or significantly limit the risk of later receiving a legal-malpractice claim.