Every now and again, I’ll be blogging some answers to questions I get frequently. (I’ll be sorting these under the category, “FAQ,” and will leave the debate as to whether that should be pronounced “fack” or “eff-A-cue” to a later date.)

One question I get frequently enough that I have the State Bar Ethics Committee opinion number* memorized, so we’ll tackle it first: “My former client has a big outstanding balance and now wants a copy of their file. Can I hold their file until they pay up?”

Some states do permit so-called retention liens, so long as withholding the file won’t prejudice the client. But here in Wisconsin, it’s a big fat no.

The file belongs to the former client, and they’re entitled their file from you upon request, in a format accessible to them, and without payment, a release of liability, or any other conditions. If you do keep a copy (and you should keep a copy, in all cases, but especially given that a client with a big outstanding balance who wants a copy of their file may not be too thrilled with you and having that file makes it much easier to respond to a grievance or other complaint), you can’t charge the client to make that copy.

But also it’s 2020 and you probably have most of their file electronically stored anyway, so there probably won’t be many, if any costs associated with copying.

(*It’s EF-16-03, by the way).