As a lawyer you have a duty to act in your client's best interests. Sometimes clients may wish to pursue a course of action which is contrary to your advice. In this respect generally see Clients ignoring your advice. Where your advice is not to settle, or should not settle on the proposed terms, but the client wants to do so regardless, there is a risk that the client may later regret that decision and seek to attribute responsibility to you.
can arise in any practice area. Examples include accepting less than a claim may reasonably be worth, settling before adequate investigations or disclosure have taken place, agreeing to inadequate contractual protections, compromising valuable rights, or otherwise accepting an outcome that is materially less favourable than may reasonably be achievable. The common feature is that the client elects to accept a result which the solicitor has advised is not in their best interests or is less advantageous than alternative available options.
The fact that a client has the right to make their own decisions does not relieve us of our professional obligations. To protect yourself against the risk of the client later alleging that they were not sufficiently advised, you must ensure that the client is making a properly informed decision and a clear contemporaneous attendance note should be made recording the advice given, the risks explained, the alternatives discussed and the client's reasons for proceeding. Wherever possible, significant decisions of this nature should also be confirmed in writing. The client should also be asked to acknowledge that:
You will also need a suitable and detailed disclaimer, tailored to the facts. What you need is very fact specific, however, we have provided an example from a family matter. This refers to a spouse seeking to accept in settlement less than the court would order or settling without having undertaken financial disclosure. Ultimately, we can do what the client wants, but there is a serious risk, and we are required to protect the client from decisions they may later regret. There are a lot of resources to help you on this. There is a general Guidance Note on Clients Instructing You to Act Contrary to Their Best Interests, there is a general recording of a CPD session on in the Context of Employment Law, and there is a the long form Note on in Employment Matters that accompanies that presentation. There is also a family law themed example disclaimer.