Do you have to give clients their files?

A client you no longer represent contacts you - he wants his file, he says. Let's assume that, for whatever reason, you'd rather not turn everything over to him. Maybe he fired you and switched to a different lawyer. Maybe he owes you money.

Do the contents belong to you? To him? What are you obliged to give up after the representation ends? The short answer: in Illinois, clients own briefs and other "end products" of the matter, but lawyers control early drafts and notes. Find out more in the November Illinois Bar Journal.

Posted on October 29, 2015 by Mark S. Mathewson

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