Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Client definition

What does Client mean? In legal practice, a client is the person or organisation for whom a lawyer or law firm acts and to whom professional duties are owed. This includes individuals, companies, partnerships and public bodies, whether instructing directly or through an agent. The term is a general professional expression rather than a statutory definition; its scope is shaped by engagement terms (the retainer) and by professional conduct rules and case law on duties of care, conflicts of interest, confidentiality and legal professional privilege. Key features include: identifying the correct client at the outset (especially for corporate clients, where the client is the entity,...

After the first family client meeting: file notes, client care, advice, Imerman self-help documents, MIAMs, property protection and third-party introductions (England and Wales)

Published by a LexisNexis Family expert

Practice notes

This Practice Note explains the actions to take after an initial interview or Client meeting, such as drafting a file note and the first client care letter with terms of business. It also outlines good practice for handling documents obtained by ‘self-help’ in accordance with the Imerman decision, and addresses Non-court dispute resolution together with property-related steps.

File note

A file note (often called an attendance note) should be produced immediately after the first interview and after each subsequent meeting or telephone conversation with the client. This contemporaneous record must be placed on the client’s file or uploaded to the electronic case management system in strict chronological order, so it can be relied upon in any future dispute or by fee-earners unfamiliar with the matter. The note created after the first meeting should capture all key background details and the client’s instructions. Ideally, the note is typed and records:

the date
the time
the attendees
the length of the meeting

Use subheadings to make information easy to locate for other fee-earners who may not know the file. A supplemental file note may be as...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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