Precautions and risk warnings [case negotiation stage]

During the case negotiation process, lawyers not only guide the client to state the facts and demands of the case, but also inform the client of relevant precautions to avoid adverse consequences caused by failure to fulfill relevant notification responsibilities. Because clients in real life are often not relevant persons in the legal field, it is understandable that they have professional legal expectations and requirements for lawyers.

During the process of signing the entrustment agreement, the lawyer should prepare a record of the case and a risk notification letter, require the client to truthfully describe the case situation and entrustment matters, and inform the client of the matters to be noted in detail, truthfully and comprehensively, so as to prevent related disputes caused by omissions. And you can make a list of notification matters and keep it for the client to sign for.

In the process of receiving clients, some clients have misunderstandings about the nature of the lawyer's work. They believe that if the lawyer charges legal fees, the entrusted matter will definitely be "handled well." Therefore, when a lawyer discovers that the client has relevant misunderstandings in the process of taking on a case, he should objectively inform the client of the risks that the lawyer faces in the litigation or defense process, such as "the lawyer's due diligence in defending does not mean that the defendant is innocent", etc. The client is reminded that in addition to cooperating with the lawyer, the client should also be aware of taking risks.

Regarding the above-mentioned risks, signing a "Risk Notification Letter" is a disciplinary regulation and common practice in the lawyer industry. According to Article 33 of the "Measures for the Administration of Lawyers' Practice" :

When a lawyer undertakes a business, he or she shall inform the client of the legal risks that may arise in the handling of the entrusted matter, and shall not make improper promises to the client regarding the handling results, either expressly or implicitly.

Regular law firms should have a "Risk Notification" template, which should be signed by the client when signing an entrustment agreement or legal service agreement. For cases with complex cases and high fees, the "notification process" and "signing process" should be recorded simultaneously with video and audio recordings to avoid the law firm losing the case due to the "formal disclaimer clause being invalid" when disputes arise in the future.
For the client’s risk warning, it is recommended to adopt the following form:
  • Develop a legal risk notification letter in a unified format, requiring the client to sign and keep it for future reference.
  • Disclose legal risks in legal services agreement.
  • During the case negotiation process, inform the legal risks when making a transcript of the conversation.
  • Notify legal risks through WeChat, SMS, email, etc.
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