You can leave with your records
An engagement you can end with reasonable notice, taking your records and working papers with you at no charge, is one you can afford to leave. That keeps every other term honest.
Why it matters
The freedom to leave is what makes every other promise in the letter mean something. If ending the engagement costs an exit fee, or leaves your records with the adviser, you will put up with terms you would otherwise change. A clause that lets you give reasonable notice, pay for work done and walk away with your records and working papers is a sign that the adviser expects to keep you by doing good work.
How to check for it
- Find the termination clause and read what is due on ending: it should be fees for work completed, nothing more.
- Check that records and working papers are returned on request, without charge, in a form you can use.
- Check the notice period and any minimum term.
- Check that no fee attaches to a claim you file later with someone else.
- Ask what the adviser keeps after the engagement ends, and for how long.
What it does not tell you
A green flag is a practice, not a verdict. An adviser with every green flag on this list can still prepare a weak claim, and an adviser with none of them can prepare a strong one. It is one thing to look for, alongside the questions to ask and the references you can speak to.
Read next
- The question: what happens if we end the engagement?
- The red flag: exit fees that lock you in
- Scripts: requesting your records and giving notice to end an engagement
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