Client File Access: Who Gets What and at Whose Expense?

-Key takeaways from RI-392–

When representation ends, the file request usually follows. Clients or subsequent counsel often ask for “the entire file,” leaving lawyers to sort out what actually has to be turned over.

On December 12, 2025, the State Bar of Michigan’s Standing Committee on Professional Ethics issued a new opinion, RI-392, providing a practical framework for addressing issues related to client file access after termination.

The opinion reinforces a core principle: clients have a right of access to information in the lawyer’s file, not ownership of the file itself. Michigan does not follow a rigid “entire file” or “end product rule.” Instead, the scope of access depends on what is reasonably necessary to protect the client’s interest under the circumstances.

        I.       The Scope of Access

                  a.       What Lawyers Must Provide

MRPC 1.16(d), holds that upon termination, the lawyer shall take reasonable steps to protect the client’s interests, including surrendering “papers and property to which the client is entitled,” while recognizing the lawyer “may retain papers relating to client to the extent permitted by law.”

RI-392 identifies a core set of materials that former clients are entitled to access in virtually all cases:

• Filed or ready-to-file pleadings
• Correspondence related to the representation, including emails and other electronic communications
• Documents exposed to the public to advance the client’s interest
• Original documents and client property supplied by the client
• Discovery and litigation materials the client paid for, including deposition transcripts and expert reports
• Legal opinions and third party evaluations paid for by the client
• Final versions of transactional documents, including estate planning, settlement agreements paid for by the client
• Applications filed on the client’s behalf
• Billing statements

These materials are presumptively accessible because they either belong to the client, were paid for by the client, or are essential to protecting the client’s interest going forward.

                  b.       What Lawyers May Withhold

RI-392 confirms that clients are not entitled to a lawyer’s internal administrative or firm materials, including conflict checks, firm assignments, internal assessments, or notes related to ethics consultations or potential malpractice liability.

RI-392 advises that absent extraordinary circumstances, lawyers should withhold materials containing information that could, if released, endanger the health, safety or welfare of the client or others. Lawyers should withhold any materials subject to the duty of nondisclosure, subject to limitations imposed by a physician, and records of confidential child protection proceedings pursuant to MCL 722.627.

                  c.       Work in Process Materials

Drafts, research memoranda, and other work-in-process materials are not automatically included, but are not categorically excluded.

If withholding drafts or research would harm the client’s interest, such as where deadlines are imminent or subsequent counsel would be forced to duplicate work the client already paid for, access must be provided. However, if the client has not paid for the lawyer’s services, work-in-process may generally be withheld unless the client is unable to pay and has a critical need for the materials.

        II.       At Whose Expense?

A lawyer may charge the former client the reasonable cost of retrieving and duplicating materials to which the client is entitled. This includes clerical time and actual duplication costs. RI-392 advises lawyers to arrange a legal assistant or paralegal to review and prepare the files unless the lawyer’s judgment is essential to the task.

Where a client requests multiple copies and agrees to pay for them, the lawyer should provide those copies during the firm’s file retention period.

The opinion becomes more restrictive where unpaid fees are involved. While a lawyer may withhold materials prepared by outside vendors or experts pending payment, that right gives way if the client is unable to pay and has a critical need for the materials to protect their interest. The same limitations applies to client property over which a retaining lien is asserted.

Practical Takeaway:

 When a former client requests the file, start with materials that are clearly within the client’s access rights. For everything else, pause and consider whether withholding access would realistically harm the client’s interest. If it would, providing access is usually the best course of action. And keeping costs reasonable, records maintained, and responses timely, will resolve most file requests without unnecessary dispute.