A former client asked me to destroy all the emails and records they sent me during the representation. Do the ethics rules require me to destroy those files?

Plain-English summary

The inquiring attorney's representation of a client terminated on November 19, 2025. The now-former client asked the attorney to destroy all emails and other records the client had sent during the representation (the "Files"), and the attorney was unsure whether the Rules of Professional Conduct required compliance. The panel's opinion is that the attorney is not required to destroy the Files.

The panel grounded its analysis in Rule 1.16(d), which sets out an attorney's duties at the end of a representation. First, the rule requires the attorney to surrender papers and property to which the client is entitled. Because the client file is the property of the client, the client is entitled at termination to the contents of the file excluding the attorney's work product. The panel described work product as including filings, memoranda, expert reports, mental impressions, interviews, and correspondence prepared by the attorney, as well as the lawyer's own personal notes unrelated to legal analysis. It emphasized that work product does not include papers the attorney received from the client during the representation, so the client-provided Files should have been returned to the client at termination even if the attorney had relied on them.

Second, Rule 1.16(d) allows the attorney to retain papers relating to the client to the extent permitted by other law. The panel noted that G.L. § 8-14-2 requires attorneys to retain civil case files for seven years after disposition of the matter, and that Rule 1.19(a) separately requires retention of certain financial records for seven years. To reconcile these duties, the panel has endorsed photocopying the file before turning it over. Applying this framework, the panel concluded that the attorney was required at termination to return the client's file (excluding work product), including the Files, and must retain a copy of the file for seven years under G.L. § 8-14-2, after which the attorney may, but need not, destroy the copy.

In practice

Under this opinion, a Rhode Island attorney faced with a former client's request to destroy client-provided materials is not obligated by the Rules to do so. The opinion holds that those materials belong to the client and should have been surrendered at termination, and that the attorney must keep a copy of the file for the seven-year statutory retention period before any destruction is optional. The panel assumed the underlying matter was civil rather than criminal.

Common questions

Q: If a former client asks me to destroy the records they gave me, must I comply?

A: No. The panel held that Rule 1.16(d) does not require destruction of a former client's files at the client's request.

Q: Who owns the documents a client provided during the representation?

A: The panel reaffirmed that the client file is the property of the client, and that client-provided papers are part of what must be surrendered at termination, excluding the attorney's work product.

Q: How long must I keep the file, and can I destroy my copy afterward?

A: The panel held that G.L. § 8-14-2 and Rule 1.19(a) require retaining a copy of the file (and certain financial records) for seven years, after which the attorney may, but is not required to, destroy the copy.

Background and rules framework

The opinion applies Rule 1.16(d) of the Rhode Island Rules of Professional Conduct, which governs an attorney's duties on termination of a representation, including surrendering client property and the option to retain papers as permitted by other law. It also applies Rule 1.19(a), Rhode Island's recordkeeping rule (the counterpart to Model Rule 1.15 on safekeeping), and G.L. § 8-14-2, the statute requiring seven-year retention of civil case files.

Citations and references

Rules of Professional Conduct:

• MR 1.16 (declining or terminating representation)
• MR 1.15 (safekeeping property; Rhode Island's recordkeeping rule is numbered 1.19)
• RI RPC 1.16(d), 1.19(a)

Statutes:

• R.I. Gen. Laws § 8-14-2 (seven-year retention of civil case files)

Cases:

• None cited.

Other opinions cited:

• RI EAP Op. 2010-06 (the client file is the property of the client)
• RI EAP Op. 92-88 (client entitled to file contents excluding work product)
• RI EAP Op. 90-19 (scope of attorney work product)
• RI EAP Op. 93-76 (personal notes unrelated to legal analysis are work product)
• RI EAP Op. 93-84 (client-provided documents must be returned; endorsing photocopying before return)
• RI EAP Op. 94-09 and Op. 92-10 (applicability of G.L. § 8-14-2's retention period)

See also

• RI EAP Op. 2010-06: Ethical Responsibilities for the Client File
• RI EAP Op. 2000-6: Custody of a Joint-Client File
• RI EAP Op. 90-38: Returning Partnership Files to Both Partners

Source

• Landing page: https://www.courts.ri.gov/attorney-resources/Pages/Ethics-Advisory-Panel-default.aspx
• Original PDF: https://www.courts.ri.gov/Opinions/EAP-2026-01.pdf

Original opinion text

Reproduced from the official source for research purposes. The linked source is authoritative.

Rhode Island Supreme Court
Ethics Advisory Panel Op. 2026-01
Issued January 8, 2026

FACTS

The inquiring attorney represented a certain client, which representation terminated on November 19, 2025. The now-former client has asked the inquiring attorney to destroy all emails and other records he or she sent to the inquiring attorney during the representation (the "Files"). The inquiring attorney is unsure whether he or she is required under the Rules of Professional Conduct to heed the former client's request and destroy the Files.

ISSUE PRESENTED

The inquiring attorney asks whether he or she is required under the Rules of Professional Conduct to destroy the Files?

OPINION

It is the Panel's opinion that the inquiring attorney is not required under the Rules of Professional Conduct to destroy the Files.

REASONING

An attorney's duties to his or her client upon termination of a representation are set forth in Rule 1.16(d):

(d) Upon termination of representation, a lawyer shall take steps to the extent reasonably practicable to protect a client's interests, such as giving reasonable notice to the client, allowing time for employment of other counsel, surrendering papers and property to which the client is entitled and refunding any advance payment of fee or expense that has not been earned or incurred. The lawyer may retain papers relating to the client to the extent permitted by other law.

This Rule establishes two (2) principles relevant here. First, it provides that upon termination of a representation the attorney "shall . . . surrender[] papers and property to which the client is entitled . . . ." "A client-file is the property of the client." Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel Op. 2010-06. Thus, upon termination of a representation the client is entitled to receive "the contents of the [client's] file excluding the attorney's work product." Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel Op. 92-88. Attorney work product in this context includes filings, memoranda, expert reports, mental impressions, interviews, and correspondence prepared by the attorney, see Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel Op. 90-19, as well as "the lawyer's own personal notes that are unrelated to legal analysis such as times records, notes of conversations with the client, and other record keeping documents." Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel Op. 93-76. Attorney work product does not include papers and other records the attorney receives from the client during the representation or any documents developed or derived therefrom, however—even if the attorney relied upon them in prosecuting the matter on the client's behalf. See Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel Op. 93-84 (requiring the inquiring attorney to return certain documents to the client following the termination of the representation because the client had provided them to the inquiring attorney during the course of the representation).

Second, Rule 1.16(d) establishes that upon termination of a representation the attorney "may retain papers relating to the client to the extent permitted by other law." In this vein, the Panel has observed that G.L. 1956 § 8-14-2 requires attorneys to retain civil case files for a period of seven (7) years after "the disposition of [the] case or matter . . . ." See Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel Op. 94-09 (recognizing the applicability of G.L. 1956 § 8-14-2 to Rhode Island attorneys); Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel Op. 92-10 (same); see also Rule 1.19, Comment [1] (same). Similarly, Rule 1.19(a) also requires attorneys to retain certain financial records for a period of "seven (7) years after the events which they record . . . ." To comply with these requirements, the Panel has endorsed the practice of attorneys photocopying the contents of a client file before turning it over to the client. See Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel Op. 93-84.

In this case, the inquiring attorney's representation of the client in question terminated on November 19, 2025. At that point, the inquiring attorney was required under Rule 1.16(d) to return to the client the client's file excluding the inquiring attorney's own work product. See Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel Op. 92-88. Among the papers returned to the client should have been the Files, even if the inquiring attorney relied on them during the representation, because they were provided by the client to the inquiring attorney during the course of the representation. See Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel Op. 93-84.

Concomitantly, however, the inquiring attorney must retain a copy of the client's file for a period of seven (7) years following the termination of the matter to which it pertained pursuant to G.L. 1956 § 8-14-2. See Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel Op. 94-09; Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel Op. 92-10. Following completion of the seven (7) year retention period, the inquiring attorney may, but need not, destroy his or her copy of the file. See Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel Op. 94-09; see also Rule 1.16(d).

[Footnote 1: The Panel assumes for the purpose of this Advisory Opinion that the matter in question was civil in nature, not criminal.]