If a New Jersey lawyer has been paid in full, can the lawyer refuse to hand over the client's original file?

Plain-English summary

The Committee was asked whether an attorney who has been completely paid all outstanding fees may refuse to deliver the client's original file to her. It pointed to DR 9-102(B)(4), which requires a lawyer to promptly pay or deliver to the client the funds, securities, or other properties in the lawyer's possession that the client is entitled to receive.

Citing Opinion 203, the Committee restated that a client has a right to be represented at all times by counsel of his own choosing, and that the files should be delivered to the attorney the client selects. Because the former attorney had been paid, the Committee concluded the client is entitled to the return of her original file.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1979, before New Jersey's adoption of the 2004 revisions to the Rules of Professional Conduct, and predates the 1984 replacement of the Disciplinary Rules by the RPCs. It applied DR 9-102(B)(4); the duty to surrender client papers and property on termination now corresponds broadly to RPC 1.16. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance. Verify against current rules before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or requirement mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Can a paid lawyer keep the client's file?

A: No. The opinion held that an attorney paid all outstanding fees may not refuse to deliver the client's original file; the client is entitled to its return.

Q: What rule controls?

A: DR 9-102(B)(4), requiring a lawyer to promptly deliver to the client property the client is entitled to receive. In current terms the duty corresponds to RPC 1.16.

Q: Does the client's choice of new counsel matter?

A: Yes. The opinion restated, from Opinion 203, that the client may be represented by counsel of his choosing and the file should be delivered to the attorney the client selects.

Background and rules framework

The opinion applied DR 9-102(B)(4) (delivery of client property) together with Opinion 203's recognition of the client's right to counsel of choice and to the file. In current New Jersey terms, the duty to surrender papers and property the client is entitled to on termination corresponds to RPC 1.16. The holding was a clean one: full payment leaves no basis to withhold the client's original file.

Citations and references

Rules of Professional Conduct:

• MR 1.16 / NJ RPC 1.16 (declining or terminating representation; surrender of papers and property)
• DR 9-102(B)(4) (prompt delivery of client property) (as in effect 1979)

Other opinions cited:

• NJ ACPE Opinion 203, 94 N.J.L.J. 298 (1971) (client's right to counsel of choice and to the file)

See also

• NJ ACPE Op. 454: Drawing on a Client's Check Before It Clears

Source

• Full text (Justia mirror): https://law.justia.com/cases/new-jersey/advisory-committee-on-professional-ethics/2004/acp445-1.html
• Issuing authority: New Jersey Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics, via the NJ Courts Supreme Court Committees page

Original opinion text

Reproduced from a full-text mirror of the official opinion for research purposes. The linked official source controls.

104 N.J.L.J. 567, December 27, 1979

OPINION 445

Paid Attorney's Refusing to Deliver File to Client

This inquiry is whether an attorney who has been completely paid all outstanding fees may refuse to deliver the client's original file to her. DR 9-102(B)(4) provides that a lawyer shall promptly pay or deliver to the client the funds, securities, or other properties in the possession of the lawyer which the client is entitled to receive. In Opinion 203, 94 N.J.L.J. 298 (1971), we held that a client has a right to be represented at all times by counsel of his own choosing and the files should be delivered to the attorney selected by the client. Since the former attorney has been paid, the client is entitled to the return of her original file.