Consultation Survey on Use of Engagement Letters

Your answers will help the CBA to develop a model engagement letter for use in a wide range of areas of law and practices.

The survey relates to both private practice and in-house counsel. There is no need to complete this survey if you are working in a position where you do not deal with clients and engagement letters/retainers.

If you have any questions about completing this survey, please contact Chantal Duguay-Hyatt at conflicts@cba.org or 1-800-267-8860 ext. 106.

Thank you very much for helping the CBA Task Force on Conflicts of Interest with its work.

	2. How many years have you been in practice?
	Less than 3 years
	4 to 10 years
	11 to 20 years
	More than 20 years

	4. What is the size of your firm or legal department (all lawyers in all offices)?
	Sole practitioner or in-house lawyer
	2 - 4 lawyers
	5 - 10 lawyers
	11 - 20 lawyers
	21 - 50 lawyers
	51 - 100 lawyers
	101 - 249 lawyers
	More than 250 lawyers

	5. Does your firm/organization have a policy requiring the use of a retainer or engagement letter?
	No
	Yes on all matters
	Yes on some matter types
	Which ones?

	6. At your firm/organization, is the use of a retainer or engagement letter...
	Optional
	Suggested
	Encouraged
	Recommended
	Required

	7. Does your file/matter opening process prevent a matter from being opened or worked on if there is no retainer or engagement letter?
	Yes
	No

	8. If your firm/department has a policy preventing a matter from being opened (or flagging it for follow-up), how is that policy enforced?
	N/A (we don’t have a firm/department policy requiring retainers)
	File can not be opened
	Follow-up by administrative staff
	The policy is not enforced
	Other

	9. If your firm/department has a policy requiring a retainer or engagement letter, how often is it followed?
	N/A (we don’t have a firm/department policy requiring retainers)
	Always
	Most of the time
	Often
	Rarely
	Never

	10. What percentage of your current open files have a signed retainer or engagement letter (including matters opened under a firm or master retainer arrangement)?
	100%
	80%
	60%
	40%
	20%
	None

12. For the areas of law you do work in (identified in the previous question) please indicate how often you use a retainer or engagement letter

General practice	Always	Mostly	Often	Rarely	Never
Administrative
ADR/mediation
Banking, finance, securities, tax mergers and acquisitions
Bankruptcy, insolvency and restructuring
Business, corporate and commercial - General
Charities and not-for-profit
Competition
Constitutional, human rights
Construction
Criminal
Environmental, energy and resources
Entertainment, media and communications
Family
Health law
Immigration and citizenship
Insurance
Intellectual property
International
Labour and employment
Litigation – General
Litigation (plaintiff)
Litigation (defence)
Military
Municipal
Pensions and benefits
Privacy
Real Estate
Tax
Wills, estates, trusts and elder law
Workers compensation

	13. Do you believe using a retainer or engagement letter can help with the following? (check all that apply)
	Control or manage lawyer/client expectations about fees and work to be done
	Improve lawyer/client relations
	Avoid conflicts of interest
	Avoid billing disputes
	Avoid a malpractice claim
	Avoid a law society complaint?
	There are other reasons I like to use a retainer
	please specify

14. Please identify how often the following reasons explain your decision regarding the use of a retainer or engagement letter on an individual file matter.

Not appropriate for client	Always	Mostly	Often	Rarely	Never
Client doesn’t like it
Don’t see the need
Don’t feel it is necessary on smaller matters
It is an administrative hassle
Not practical due to tight time constraints
Not necessary on multiple matters for same client
There is a master retainer in place for multiple file/matters
Our competitors don’t do it

	15. Do you have any other comments on why you do or do not use a retainer or engagement letter?

	16. Have you looked at the model engagement letter or any of the other documents and checklists in the Tool Kit created by the CBA Task Force on Conflicts of interest?
	Yes
	No

	17. Has your firm used or adapted the model engagement letter or any of the other documents and checklists in the CBA Tool Kit?
	Yes
	No
	Don’t know

	18. Would you or your firm/organization find helpful an engagement letter precedent which could be adapted to a wide range of areas of law and types of practice?
	Yes
	No
	Don’t know