---
title: "Letter when the retainer ends"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/costs-billing-and-litigation-funding/letter-when-the-retainer-ends"
type: "precedent"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "a42-letter-when-the-retainer-ends"
area_id: "A42"
kind: "letter"
ai_level: "yellow"
version: 1
task_ids: ["A42-PE20261022-2", "A42-PE20261022-3"]
law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-23"
---

# Letter when the retainer ends

> A letter when the firm stops acting, setting out any costs still sought. Cooling-off recovery is limited to the services the section allows, with no uplift, and the letter claims no lien.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/costs-billing-and-litigation-funding/letter-when-the-retainer-ends  
Law stated as at: 2026-10-23

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

- Kind: Letter. A letter or email you adapt and send.
- Practice area: [Costs, billing & litigation funding](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/costs-billing-and-litigation-funding.md)
- Jurisdictions: Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales
- AI level: Yellow. You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at: 2026-10-23
- Status: Maintained. Checked on 2026-10-23 against the 3 authorities it cites, for Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales.

## When to use it

Use when the practice stops acting for an injured person, whether the client ended a conditional agreement in the cooling-off period, the client ended it later, or the practice ended it. Do not use it to claim a lien. No lien statute was opened for this letter.

## Used for these tasks

- [Check a conditional costs agreement for the required content and any uplift cap](https://ailawframework.com/obligations/costs-billing-and-litigation-funding/check-a-conditional-costs-agreement-for-the-required-content-and-any-upl.md)
- [Advise whether a disclosure failure blocks recovery of the costs](https://ailawframework.com/obligations/costs-billing-and-litigation-funding.md#A42-PE20261022-3)

## How AI may be used

The tool may record why the retainer ended and list only the costs the lawyer has marked as recoverable, and it must not claim a lien or state the consequence of a disclosure failure.

**AI may:**

- State the end date and which of the three endings the lawyer has selected
- List costs that fit section 181(5) or section 323(5) where the client ended the agreement in the cooling-off period
- Offer to send the file to a new lawyer on the client's written authority

**AI must not:**

- Must not claim a solicitor's lien, or hold documents against unpaid costs, unless the lawyer has written in the power relied on
- Must not recover an uplift after a cooling-off termination
- Must not state that a disclosure failure does, or does not, block recovery of costs. Those sections were not opened
- Must not invent a new limitation date in this letter

**The lawyer checks:**

- The ending matches the file: cooling-off notice, later client instructions, or a decision by the practice
- Any amount claimed after a cooling-off termination meets section 181(5) or section 323(5), and there is no uplift
- Any amount claimed after a later ending is taken from the signed agreement, which is identified by date
- If disclosure may have been missed, the lawyer reads the current consequence sections before a figure is included. This letter does not contain those sections
- Time limits already advised in writing are repeated accurately. No fresh date is created here
- Confidential material goes to a new lawyer only with the client's authority under conduct rule 9.2.1, and it stays in the firm's system until then

## Authorities

- [Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) s 181(5) (if the client terminates in the cooling-off period, recovery is limited to instructed services the client knew would be performed in that period, and no uplift)](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/lpul333/s181.html)
- [Legal Profession Act 2007 (Qld) s 323(5) (the same limit, and no uplift)](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/qld/consol_act/lpa2007179/s323.html)
- [Legal Profession Uniform Law Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules 2015 r 9.1 and r 9.2.1 (no disclosure of confidential information except as the rule allows, including with the client's authority)](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/sl-2015-0244#sec.9)

## Full text and drafting notes

The full text and the drafting notes are not part of this public page. Signed-in firm accounts can read them at https://ailawframework.com/precedents/costs-billing-and-litigation-funding/letter-when-the-retainer-ends and through the signed-in MCP connector https://ailawframework.com/mcp/firm.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*