Engagement letter checklist

One box for each of the ten clauses in the contracts section, in the same order, from the fee basis to the renewal terms. Each box has the "look for" and "ask more about" paragraphs from the clause page, and three tick boxes:

• the letter says this in words we can test
• we have asked for it to be changed
• a lawyer in our country has reviewed it

The file is a tagged, accessible PDF, sized to print on A4 and on US Letter.

Read the engagement letter and its standard terms with the checklist beside you, clause by clause. Tick the first box only when the letter in front of you says it, in words you can test on your own figures. If it does not, the clause page shows a sample clause and the questions to ask, and the scripts section has wording to send. A clause that is missing altogether, such as the fee refund if the claim is reduced, is the one to check for first.

Contract law differs by country, and so does what a letter can and cannot do. The third tick box is there because a lawyer in your country should review the letter before you sign it, whatever this checklist says.

Page one carries the publisher disclosure and the scripts and templates disclaimer, then the ten clauses in the order of the contracts section. The paragraphs are the same as the clause pages on this site, and the file is rebuilt when they change; the version number is on every page.

• Contracts: a sample of each clause with numbered callouts
• Questions checklist and the proposal scorecard
• How to negotiate fees