---
title: "When the attorney declines"
url: https://services.dev/docs/examples/legal/decline
captured: [legal-decline.txt]
---
# When the attorney declines

URL: https://services.dev/docs/examples/legal/decline

> An attorney declines a demand letter they claimed. The decline is paid, its memo is the client's alone, and the matter waits on the client's direction until she names a second attorney, who signs.

*legal's words: matter is a job, asset is a subject, review is a task, signer is a member, network is a pool, outcome is a end (examples/legal/brand.ts).*

An attorney may decline any review they claim, on its merits. A decline is paid and never counts against their track record, and its memo goes to the client alone. A conflict with a party is a step aside instead, unpaid, before they read the matter. Then the matter waits on her direction, and no one else can move it.

Two attorneys admitted in New York, and a demand letter for a client there:

```txt
→ POST /matters {"service":"demand-letter","client":{"name":"Ada Lovelace","email":"ada@example.com"},"recipient":{"name":"Initech","email":"ap@initech.example","org":"Initech Inc"},"claim":"unpaid debt for invoice 1042","amount":4200,"client_region":"US-NY","recipient_region":"US-NJ","evidence":["invoice-1042.pdf"],"max_usd":149,"key":"decline"}
```

```txt title="magic values: none"
# Ada consents through her own link: ask_7Hq2
← job_7Hq2 · waiting · on claim · $149.00 held · sign · tsk_7Hq2
```

## The decline

The first attorney claims the review, reads the packet, and won't put their name to a demand for more than the invoice supports:

```txt
→ POST /reviews/tsk_7Hq2/decline {"memo":"The invoice supports $1,800 of the $4,200; I won't put my name to a demand for the full amount."}   # as mbr_7Hq2
```

```txt title="magic values: none"
← 200 tsk_7Hq2 · done · attorney · sign · US-NY · $75.00 · signals collections, recipient_elsewhere · declined · 30 min · $150.00 an hour · due 2026-10-27 14:02
  14:02 · task.declined · tsk_7Hq2 · mbr_7Hq2 · memo sha256:c8debd61…, the client's alone
  14:02 · pay.accrued · mbr_7Hq2 · decline · $75.00
  14:02 · job.paused · on the client's direction · sign
```

## Only the client moves it

The buyer's read names the next act, and it's a link for the client. The owner console can't approve past it:

```txt
→ GET /matters/job_7Hq2
```

```txt title="magic values: none"
← job_7Hq2 · waiting · on direction · $149.00 held
  next    {"do":"hand_to_person","to":"direct","party":"Ada Lovelace","url":"http://localhost:8787/a/ask_7Hq3?t=…"}
```

```txt
→ POST /owner/matters/job_7Hq2/approve   # the owner console
```

```txt title="magic values: none"
← 409 needs_direction: A signer declined, and only the client's direction moves the matter on.
```

The buyer can't cancel it either:

```txt
→ POST /matters/job_7Hq2/cancel   # the buyer
```

```txt title="magic values: none"
← 409 needs_direction
```

## She names a second attorney

Her link shows the memo and lists every attorney admitted where she is who can take it now, and what ending it costs. She can't name the attorney who declined. Once she picks another, the review goes to that attorney alone, with no ladder, and no one else sees it:

*Screen: the customer portal at `/a/ask_7Hq6`, a hosted page, no account (captured/screens/legal-portal-direct.html).*

```txt
→ POST /asks/ask_7Hq3?t=… {"member":"mbr_7Hq2"}
```

```txt title="magic values: none"
← 422 input_invalid: mbr_7Hq2 declined sign: name another signer.
→ POST /asks/ask_7Hq3?t=… {"member":"mbr_7Hq3"}
← 200 done

← job_7Hq2 · waiting · on claim · $149.00 held · sign · tsk_7Hq3
  task    dispatch direct · to mbr_7Hq3 · offered mbr_7Hq3 (client) · ladder none: it waits on the member named
  mbr_eligible GET /tasks → 0 Tasks
```

## The second attorney signs

```txt
→ POST /reviews/tsk_7Hq3/attest {"checklist":["every claim is supported","no threat the client cannot carry out"]}   # as mbr_7Hq3
```

```txt title="magic values: none"
← 200 tsk_7Hq3 · done · attorney · sign · US-NY · $75.00 · signals collections, recipient_elsewhere · attested · 30 min · $150.00 an hour · due 2026-10-27 14:02
  14:02 · step.committed · sign · person · bar admission · US-NY · mbr_7Hq3
  14:02 · pay.accrued · mbr_7Hq3 · attest · $75.00

← job_7Hq2 · waiting · on party · $149.00 charged
  record  collections · signal | recipient_elsewhere · signal | consent · client · consent | draft · ai | attack · ai · adversarial · 3 lenses · pass | sign · person · refused · needs_direction · A member declined, and only the client's direction moves the job on. | sign · person · bar admission · US-NY · mbr_7Hq3 | send · the recipient · accepted · rcp_7Hq2 | reply · ai
  ledger  +$149.00 · attorney's fee $75.00, sold by the attorney (rail member) · brand $74.00 · decline cover $75.00, funded from the brand's share · AI $2.10 · you −$3.10
```

Both attorneys are paid for their acts. The second sells their own fee at the client's checkout; the first one's decline is decline cover, funded from the brand's share, so this matter costs the brand $3.10 once the AI is counted. `check` prints this case before you sell, as the margin after a decline and a second attorney, and [the money](https://services.dev/docs/examples/legal/money.md#price-it-so-a-decline-doesnt-sink-it) shows how to price for it. [Declines and direction](https://services.dev/docs/people/direction.md) covers every way a decline resolves.

---

- Up: [The legal example](https://services.dev/docs/examples/legal.md)
- Previous: [Docket watch](https://services.dev/docs/examples/legal/docket-watch.md)
- Next: [Porting api.lawyer](https://services.dev/docs/examples/legal/port.md)