What happens when a client asks for their file back?

Who handles the request?

I do, as Practice Manager, and the request is logged with three things before anything moves: the matter number, the identity of the person asking, and the records they are asking for. The first job is to verify authority. A request from an address at the client is not the same as a request from the person entitled to the file. We check before we release.

What is returned?

The client's own records, in the form they gave them to us or in an agreed secure format, together with an inventory of what was delivered. The inventory matters as much as the records. It is what the client checks against, and it is what we keep as proof of what left the firm.

What is not returned: another client's information, our internal review comments, and unrelated research. A client's file is the client's. Our thinking about it, and anything belonging to anyone else, is not.

Why send an inventory with every return?

Because "the whole file" is a claim, and a claim needs evidence. Our policy has a line that I quote to every new associate: never claim that the whole file was returned because only the first attachment was delivered. The inventory makes the claim checkable.

What does the firm keep?

The retained record. For every closed matter that means the signed engagement letter, the final advice as issued, the versions of the sources we relied on at the time, the approval trail showing who reviewed and released, and the return inventory. We record the closure date and a scheduled review date.

The retention period is seven years after matter closure, unless an approved hold requires longer. A return request does not shorten that. The client getting their records back and the firm keeping its record of the work are two separate things, and both happen.

What are the hard cases?

Two kinds. The first is an unresolved ownership question: a document that could belong to the client, the firm or a third party. The second is an exception to the policy, such as a format the client wants that we cannot provide securely. Harriet Larkspur approves both. I record the decision and the recipient's acknowledgement, and the transfer stays restricted to the matter team until release has been approved.

What does the client hear while something is outstanding?

The truth, with an owner and a date. When a record cannot be returned immediately, the message says what is outstanding, who owns it inside the firm, and when the client will hear next. Silence is not an option and neither is a partial return described as complete.

Does closing a matter end our responsibilities?

No. A matter closing does not remove the review or retention responsibilities. The lane is closed to new work, the retained record is kept, and the scheduled review date is a real date on which someone checks whether the hold status has changed and whether the retention period has run.

What should a client do to make a return smooth?

• Ask from an account the firm can verify, or confirm authority through the engagement partner.
• Name the matter and the records you want.
• Expect an inventory and check it on arrival.
• Expect the firm to keep its own record of the advice it gave you.

What should the client expect to receive?

A set that makes sense on its own. The deliverables the letter promised, in the versions that were issued. The sources that were in force when the advice was given, in the versions that were in force on those dates. The engagement letter itself and any written changes to it. And a short covering note that says what has been included, what has been withheld because it belongs to the firm's internal working, and who to ask if something seems to be missing.

What the client should not receive is anything from another client's lane, and what they should never be told is that a document they are entitled to cannot be found. The seven-year retention period exists so that the second of those sentences is never needed, and the lane model exists so that the first is never possible.

Q&A

The questions clients ask most about file returns and retention are answered below.

Last updated 1 October 2026.