By Neta, founder of SortMyDivorce · Updated
A letter saying your lawyer intends to stop acting for you lands differently from any other letter in a divorce, because it arrives from the one person who was supposed to be on your side. This guide is about what the rules allow a lawyer to do, what they require the lawyer to do for you on the way out, and the one fact that matters most: the court's timetable does not pause because your lawyer left. This guide quotes the Canadian Model Code, the Alberta and British Columbia court rules, and California's conduct rule. Every law society and state bar has its own version of the withdrawal rule, and every court has its own procedure for a lawyer coming off the record. Ontario's procedure could not be read for this page and is not described. Confirm the details for your jurisdiction.
| The starting rule | Model Code 3.7-1: a lawyer "must not withdraw from representation of a client except for good cause and on reasonable notice to the client." |
|---|---|
| When they may | 3.7-2, "a serious loss of confidence"; 3.7-3, non-payment after reasonable notice, "unless serious prejudice to the client would result." |
| When they must | 3.7-7: if discharged by the client, if the client insists on unethical instructions, or if the lawyer "is not competent to continue to handle a matter." |
| What reasonable notice means | Commentary: the lawyer "should not desert the client at a critical stage of a matter," and the client "should be given sufficient time to retain and instruct replacement counsel." |
| Your court dates | 3.7-9(a)(iii): the lawyer must tell you in writing "that the client should expect that the hearing or trial will proceed on the date scheduled." |
| Alberta | Rule 2.29: withdrawal takes effect 10 days after the affidavit of service of the notice is filed; Rule 2.31: after a trial date is scheduled, no withdrawal without the court's permission. |
| British Columbia | Rule 21-4(3): a lawyer who has ceased to act may apply for a declaration that they are no longer the party's lawyer. |
| California | Rule 1.16(c) and (d): no withdrawal before a tribunal without its permission where required, and none "until the lawyer has taken reasonable steps to avoid reasonably foreseeable prejudice." |
Keeping track of dates like these across a stack of letters is exactly what SortMyDivorce does — start a free trial, no card needed.
The client can end the relationship at any time. The lawyer cannot. Model Code rule 3.7-1: "A lawyer must not withdraw from representation of a client except for good cause and on reasonable notice to the client."
The commentary explains the asymmetry. Paragraph [1]: "Although the client has the right to terminate the lawyer-client relationship at will, a lawyer does not enjoy the same freedom of action. Having undertaken the representation of a client, the lawyer should complete the task as ably as possible unless there is justifiable cause for terminating the relationship. It is inappropriate for a lawyer to withdraw on capricious or arbitrary grounds."
That is the standard against which a withdrawal letter should be read. It has to give a cause, and the cause has to be a justifiable one.
Loss of confidence. Rule 3.7-2: "If there has been a serious loss of confidence between the lawyer and the client, the lawyer may withdraw." The commentary gives examples: "if a lawyer is deceived by his client, the client refuses to accept and act upon the lawyer's advice on a significant point, a client is persistently unreasonable or uncooperative in a material respect, or the lawyer is facing difficulty in obtaining adequate instructions from the client." It adds a limit that matters in a divorce, where difficult decisions are the whole case: "the lawyer should not use the threat of withdrawal as a device to force a hasty decision by the client on a difficult question."
Non-payment. Rule 3.7-3: "If, after reasonable notice, the client fails to provide a retainer or funds on account of disbursements or fees, a lawyer may withdraw unless serious prejudice to the client would result." Two conditions, both in the lawyer's way: reasonable notice first, and no serious prejudice. The commentary: "When the lawyer withdraws because the client has not paid the lawyer's fee, the lawyer should ensure that there is sufficient time for the client to obtain the services of another lawyer and for that other lawyer to prepare adequately for trial."
Mandatory withdrawal. Rule 3.7-7: "A lawyer must withdraw if: a) discharged by a client; b) a client persists in instructing the lawyer to act contrary to professional ethics; or c) the lawyer is not competent to continue to handle a matter."
The commentary to 3.7-1, paragraph [2], is the passage to read if a hearing is coming: "No hard and fast rules can be laid down as to what constitutes reasonable notice before withdrawal and how quickly a lawyer may cease acting after notification will depend on all relevant circumstances. When the matter is covered by statutory provisions or rules of court, these will govern. In other situations, the governing principle is that the lawyer should protect the client's interests to the best of the lawyer's ability and should not desert the client at a critical stage of a matter or at a time when withdrawal would put the client in a position of disadvantage or peril. As a general rule, the client should be given sufficient time to retain and instruct replacement counsel."
And paragraph [3]: "Every effort should be made to ensure that withdrawal occurs at an appropriate time in the proceedings in keeping with the lawyer's obligations. The court, opposing parties and others directly affected should also be notified of the withdrawal."
The court rules then add procedure, and in two provinces it is specific.
Alberta. Rule 2.29(1): a lawyer may withdraw as lawyer of record by "serving on the client and each of the other parties a notice of withdrawal in Form 4" stating the client's last known address and "that on the expiry of 10 days after the date on which the affidavit of service of the notice is filed, the withdrawing lawyer will no longer be the lawyer of record," and by filing that affidavit of service. Rule 2.29(2): "The withdrawal of the lawyer of record takes effect 10 days after the affidavit of service of the notice is filed." Rule 2.30: after that, nothing served on the former lawyer is effective service. And Rule 2.31, the one that protects a client near trial: "After a trial date is scheduled, a lawyer of record may not, without the Court's permission, serve a notice of withdrawal as lawyer of record and any notice of withdrawal that is served without the Court's permission has no effect."
British Columbia. Supreme Court Family Rule 21-4(1) lets a party change lawyers or discharge one and act in person, "but until copies of notice of the change in Form F87 or F88 have been filed and served on the other parties, the other parties are entitled to proceed on the basis that there has been no change of representation or address for service." Rule 21-4(3): "If a lawyer who has acted for a party to a family law case has ceased to act and the party has not given a notice of change in accordance with subrule (1), the court, on the application of the lawyer, may declare that the lawyer has ceased to be the lawyer acting for the party." So in BC a lawyer who wants to come off the record without the client's cooperation needs a court declaration, and the address for service is part of what the court deals with.
California. Rule 1.16(c): "If permission for termination of a representation is required by the rules of a tribunal, a lawyer shall not terminate a representation before that tribunal without its permission." Rule 1.16(d): "A lawyer shall not terminate a representation until the lawyer has taken reasonable steps to avoid reasonably foreseeable prejudice to the rights of the client, such as giving the client sufficient notice to permit the client to retain other counsel."
Model Code rule 3.7-9 is a checklist, and it is worth having in front of you when the letter arrives. "On discharge or withdrawal, a lawyer must:
(a) notify the client in writing, stating: i. the fact that the lawyer has withdrawn; ii. the reasons, if any, for the withdrawal; and iii. in the case of litigation, that the client should expect that the hearing or trial will proceed on the date scheduled and that the client should retain new counsel promptly;
(b) subject to the lawyer's right to a lien, deliver to or to the order of the client all papers and property to which the client is entitled;
(c) subject to any applicable trust conditions, give the client all relevant information in connection with the case or matter;
(d) account for all funds of the client then held or previously dealt with, including the refunding of any remuneration not earned during the representation;
(e) promptly render an account for outstanding fees and disbursements;
(f) co-operate with the successor lawyer in the transfer of the file so as to minimize expense and avoid prejudice to the client; and
(g) comply with the applicable rules of court."
Rule 3.7-8 sets the tone for all of it: "When a lawyer withdraws, the lawyer must try to minimize expense and avoid prejudice to the client and must do all that can reasonably be done to facilitate the orderly transfer of the matter to the successor lawyer."
California's rule 1.16(e) covers the same ground for the file and the money: on termination "for any reason," the lawyer "promptly shall release to the client, at the request of the client, all client materials and property," defined to include "correspondence, pleadings, deposition transcripts, experts' reports and other writings, exhibits, and physical evidence, whether in tangible, electronic or other form," and "whether the client has paid for them or not"; and "promptly shall refund any part of a fee or expense paid in advance that the lawyer has not earned or incurred."
The separate guide on getting your file back covers item (b) and the lien in more detail.
Read the letter against rule 3.7-9(a). It should say that the lawyer is withdrawing, why, and that any scheduled hearing will proceed on its date. If it does not say the third thing, assume it anyway.
Write down every court date and every deadline in the case, today. This is the single most important act of the week. The dates belong to the court, not to the lawyer, and they will not move because the lawyer did. If you do not have them, ask for them in writing under rule 3.7-9(c), which requires the lawyer to give you "all relevant information in connection with the case."
Ask for the file and the accounting in writing. Items (b), (d) and (e): the papers, the trust accounting with any unearned funds refunded, and a final account. One letter, three requests.
If a trial or hearing is close, say so, in writing, and ask what the lawyer proposes to do about it. The commentary says a lawyer should not desert a client at a critical stage; Alberta's Rule 2.31 makes withdrawal after a trial date is set subject to the court's permission. A lawyer who is withdrawing three weeks before trial should be able to explain how that meets the rule.
Start looking for the next lawyer the same week. Rule 3.7-9(f) obliges the outgoing lawyer to cooperate with the successor. A successor who can receive an organised file, a list of dates and a short summary of where the case stands can take it on; one who receives a box cannot.
Do not argue about the reasons by email. If the stated cause is non-payment, the question is whether reasonable notice was given and whether serious prejudice would result. If it is loss of confidence, the question is whether it is serious. Neither is settled by correspondence with the lawyer who is leaving. If the withdrawal seems improper, the guide to complaining about a lawyer explains what the law society can and cannot do.
Verification note. Ontario's Family Law Rules provision on a lawyer being removed from the record was not read for this page and is not described. Alberta Rule 2.29(4) and (5), on withholding a client's address for safety reasons, and Rule 2.32, on automatic termination, were read but are not summarised. California Rule 1.16(a) and (b), which list the grounds for mandatory and permissive withdrawal, were only partly legible in the copy read and are not quoted.
Under rule 3.7-3, yes, but only "after reasonable notice" and "unless serious prejudice to the client would result." A withdrawal for non-payment days before a hearing is exactly what the "serious prejudice" limit is aimed at.
No. Rule 3.7-9(a)(iii) requires the withdrawing lawyer to tell you in writing "that the client should expect that the hearing or trial will proceed on the date scheduled." Any change to the date is something you or your new lawyer would have to apply for.
The commentary says a lawyer "should not desert the client at a critical stage." In Alberta, Rule 2.31 prohibits a notice of withdrawal after a trial date is scheduled without the court's permission, and a notice served without it "has no effect." Elsewhere the court rules and the "reasonable notice" standard govern; ask a lawyer in your province.
Rule 3.7-9(b) and (d): the papers and property you are entitled to, subject to a lien, and an accounting "including the refunding of any remuneration not earned." California's rule 1.16(e) is broader on the file: client materials are released "whether the client has paid for them or not." See the guide on getting your file back.
The commentary to 3.7-2 lists a client who "refuses to accept and act upon the lawyer's advice on a significant point" as an example of a loss of confidence that may justify withdrawal. It also says the threat of withdrawal must not be used "to force a hasty decision by the client on a difficult question."
Ontario has its own rule of court for a lawyer coming off the record in a family case. It could not be read for this page. The Model Code obligations quoted above apply through the Law Society of Ontario's Rules of Professional Conduct; ask an Ontario lawyer about the court procedure.
Last reviewed September 2026. Researched and written by Neta, founder of SortMyDivorce. I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice — laws, fees and forms change, so please confirm current details with the official sources above or a local family lawyer.
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