Law firm staff offboarding checklist
Staff offboarding at a law firm must protect client confidentiality, handover matters, and comply with legal profession obligations. This checklist is for firm managers and HR teams.
This is a 12-step law firm staff offboarding checklist. It covers handover, confidentiality, trust account reconciliation, and access revocation.
The checklist
Receive resignation
Formally acknowledge resignation and confirm last day.
Client notification
Plan client notification and reassignment strategy for the departing lawyer's matters.
Matter handover
Complete detailed matter handover memos for each active file.
Handover trust obligations
Handover trust account signing authority and reconcile outstanding transactions.
Conflict considerations
Consider conflict issues for the departing lawyer's new employment.
Confirm restraints
Confirm any contractual restraint of trade clauses and obligations.
Recover firm property
Recover laptop, phone, access passes, and office keys.
Revoke system access
Revoke access to practice management, email, DMS, and trust account on last day.
Archive mailbox
Archive the email mailbox and set auto-reply with contact redirection.
Final pay and entitlements
Calculate final pay, accrued leave, and any bonuses.
Update public profiles
Remove departing lawyer from firm website, directories, and law society listings.
Exit interview
Conduct an exit interview and document feedback.
When this checklist applies
Use for every staff departure from a law firm.
Common pitfalls
- Access not revoked on last day
- Matter handover incomplete
- Trust signing authority not updated
- Confidentiality obligations not reinforced
- Public profiles not updated
Run this checklist on a real matter
Quillio can manage an offboarding workflow and track access revocation. See /practice-areas/firm-management or start a free trial.
General guidance for law firm offboarding. Apply jurisdictional legal profession rules.
Use this checklist on your matter.
Quillio can run this checklist on a specific NSW conveyancing matter — confirm each item, calculate adjustments, and generate the supporting documents. The free trial requires no credit card.
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