Paid Attorney's Refusing to Deliver File to Client

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.