The attorney-client relationship has a limited lifespan. Generally, it is a project-based temporary business relationship, albeit a fiduciary one.

Whether the representation is short or long, transactional or litigation based, it must someday end. It may end with settlement or a verdict in litigation, it may end at the completion of a transaction, or it may end in the middle.

It is sadly not the end of a relationship which usually results in tension, negotiation or litigation, it's a question of attorney fees. Depending on the format of those fees, whether hourly, contingent, flat or hybrid, the question of fees either presages or creates the end of the attorney-client relationship. Even when the relationship ends because the work is truly finished, there may be a dispute over fees. Disputes over fees consistently occupy a large amount of attorney time and are governed by some well understood principals.