Retainers, fee agreements and settlements, signed in the right order

What a firm sends for signature

• Engagement letter or retainerScope, rates, the retainer amount and how the trust account works. Start from the retainer agreement.
• Contingency fee agreementThe percentage, how costs are handled and what the client owes if the case is lost. Under ABA Model Rule 1.5(c), it must be in a writing signed by the client.
• Conflict waiverWhen a conflict can be waived, the model rules ask for the client's informed consent confirmed in writing. Each affected client signs their own.
• Settlement agreement and releaseSigned by each party, often after counsel approves the final draft, with signing in order so nobody signs a version the other side hasn't accepted.
• Medical records authorizationThe client's permission for providers to release records to the firm, sent with the retainer in a personal injury intake.
• Closing and disengagement lettersThe end of the representation in writing, and the client's acknowledgment that they received their file.

Sign the client before they leave the parking lot

1. 1

   Fill the retainer during the consult

   Open your engagement letter template, fill the matter, the rate and the retainer, or ask Alana to fill them from one sentence. She fills fields but never writes your terms or sends anything.

2. 2

   Sign in the office, or send the link

   Hand over an iPad with Sign in person, or email the link so the client signs from their car. No account, nothing to install.

3. 3

   Countersign

   Add the responsible attorney as the last signer. The client gets the sealed PDF with a certificate of completion once you sign.

For a contingency matter, put the fee percentage and the cost terms in the agreement with an initials box beside each, and the medical records authorization in the same envelope, SignMaster's word for one send. The client signs everything in one sitting.

Settlements with several parties

Choose signing in order and list the signers the way the deal closes: your client, then the other party, then each side's counsel if they sign. Each person gets the link only when it's their turn, and automatic reminders keep it moving. If someone declines, they give a reason, and you see it on the envelope instead of finding out a week later. Every signer gets the same sealed PDF, and its SHA-256 fingerprint shows if anyone changes a page afterward.

What shouldn't go through an e-signature app

The federal ESIGN Act doesn't cover wills, codicils and testamentary trusts, or the rules governing adoption, divorce and other family law matters, and courts have their own e-filing and signature rules. Documents that need a notary, like many deeds and powers of attorney, need a notary or an approved remote online notarization platform; SignMaster doesn't notarize. See can you e-sign a will and can you e-sign a power of attorney.

Spanish-speaking clients see the signing page, emails and e-signature consent in Spanish, one of 6 languages. Your engagement letter is yours to translate.

Pricing for a firm

A solo attorney can use Solo at $15 a month with unlimited envelopes. Crew is $49 a month for 5 people, so attorneys and paralegals share templates, and adds webhooks and the API to connect your practice management system. Company covers 15 people for $99. New workspaces get 14 days of Crew free. See every plan.

What SignMaster doesn't do

• It doesn't notarize, and it isn't a court e-filing system.
• It doesn't verify identity with ID checks or knowledge-based questions.
• It doesn't take retainer payments or manage trust accounts.