Month: June 2011

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Starting a Law Firm | Bring it Strong or Don’t Bring it at All

When I first started practicing law, a great piece of advice I received early on was that, when filing pleadings and making arguments, you better be darn sure you are right and you better have the guts to follow through on your court filing.  In other words, you have to bring it strong or don’t bring it at all.  Or, as Shaq once said: “Don’t fake the funk on a nasty dunk.”

Filing weak pleadings results in weak cases.  Lawyers have to know the law and have the confidence to enforce it in favor of their clients.  Like it or not, it’s an adversarial system and you are your clients’ advocate.  You better believe that the other side is going to bring it (or, at least you should expect them to.)

I suspect the adversarial nature of the legal system is why a lot of lawyers either leave the practice and/or suffer extreme stress and job fatigue.  Starting a law firm and practicing law every day is not easy.  It can be incredibly rewarding and often very fun, but it is not easy.

In my practice, I try to take good solid advice where I can find it.  My example of this concept is the game of baseball.  The baseball season is a long, drawn-out, competitive affair.  There are many ups and downs.  I find this to be a lot like a lawsuit – a long, sometimes painful struggle to win.  So, a lot of managers and players in baseball talk about the mental makeup it takes to be an every-day ball player.  You have to keep an even temper and always remember to be positive and keep your goals in mind.  There are so many highs and lows that controlling your emotions is very important.  If you get too high after a win you tend to miss the big picture.  The same goes for a loss.

I try to be like a veteran baseball player – take the highs and lows as they come and keep a steady keel.  Does it always work?  No.  Sometimes I want to tear my hair out.  Sometimes I gloat over a nasty dunk.  But, trust me, you will be a much happier person and a lawyer if you remember to keep a steady focus on the task at hand.

But, back to filing strong pleadings.  To me, there is nothing worse than having to look back on a case where I failed to bring it.  I have had several of them.  I knew I needed to come strong, but for whatever reason, I didn’t.  Afterward, I felt like I didn’t give it my best shot for the client.  Maybe I was tired that day.  Maybe I didn’t feel like I had the time.  Those excuses stink and I can tell you that you will feel worse later if you realize you didn’t give your full effort.  Your clients will also realize that you weren’t fighting for them like you should have.  This results in dissatisfied clients and loss of income to your law firm.  Both are bad things – especially when trying to build a law practice.

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Starting a Law Firm | Creating Memorable Pleadings

Ok, this post is a cheat.  It isn’t really about starting a law firm.  However, I have been making an effort to share some of the basics of opening a law practice and dealing with the court.

In an effort to provide some humor to this blog (which I realize is often fairly boring), I wanted readers to see what a more experienced and arguably prestigious, big firm lawyer considers appropriate for filing a summary judgement response brief.  Apparently, Mark Cuban (the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, NBA basketball team) has been sued by a minority shareholder who filed a complaint to have Cuban removed as the owner of the Dallas Mavericks because he was allegedly incompetent and running the Mavericks into the ground.  For those of you who don’t know, the Mavericks just won the NBA Championship.

Does the shareholder’s lawsuit seem a little silly now?  I would argue, yes.  Mark Cuban’s lawyer apparently agrees with me because he filed this memorable summary judgment brief.

I don’t condone these kinds of briefs.  I am not sure when the ability to file a humorous brief arises, but my general thought is never.  However, the argument in the brief is, in my opinion, entirely appropriate.

Learning how to start a law firm means getting to know the court and it staff.  It means being diligent and acting in a highly professional manner.  However, at times, it can mean having a little fun.

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Starting a Law Firm | Knowing Your Local Rules

Starting a law firm doesn’t just mean marketing your firm.  You won’t be in business very long if you don’t know the law.  The last thing you want when starting a law firm is to be faced with a legal malpractice lawsuit for failure to know and follow the law.

The law you know includes more than the state and federal law that you learned in law school.  The law also includes your jurisdiction’s state (county) and/or federal court local rules.  Failure to learn and know the local rules puts you at a huge disadvantage and will ensure that your initial efforts will not go well with your client, opposing counsel, and the court.  This is a really bad was to develop reputation.

Knowing the local rules also means that you are going to make your local judges happy.  Making judges happy is a good thing.  They know the rules and so should you.  In fact, your judge probably wrote a few of the local rules in your jurisdiction.  Many judges are often either on the local rules drafting committee or are giving direct insight into the drafting the process.  Believe me, it is your best interest for you and your new law firm to know the rules.

Also, knowing the local rules will surely put you at least on par with your local attorneys who have been in the community for a while.  You can be sure that those attorneys know the local rules and will not hesitate to use them against you.  Also, in my practice, I found that a number of attorneys (for whatever reason) tended to ignore the local rules.  This is not a good idea when starting a law firm.

I have a little sticky note in my office which says “I get paid to win”.  Now, that is probably not the end-all-be-all of how I want to represent my clients, but it reminds me that I am my clients’ advocate.  My clients don’t want to pay for my mistakes and nor should they have to.  What is a great way to make mistakes for your clients and hurt your new law firm?  Not knowing the local rules.  In my family law practice, I have both won key victories and lost some things because I did or did not know a particular local rule.  I can tell you that, although my clients didn’t know the law, they knew that I had won something for them or done a good job.

Building a successful law firm means a lot of things.  It certainly means developing a marketing plan, being ethical, and having experience – but it also means making a reputation for yourself.  One of the best ways to earn a reputation is by knowing the law and asserting your client’s position to the fullest.  That will get your bills paid, believe me. In my view, there are many different ways to “win”, but knowing the local rules (and the law in general) is one of them.  Don’t under estimate it.

When thinking about starting a law firm, don’t just think about marketing and planning the firm.  I know that is tough to do.  After all, your law firm needs clients first to make any of this matter.  But, I read a lot of blogs and other literature and they seem a little too focused on money and marketing your firm.  Don’t forget that when starting a law firm you need to be just as concerned with being a good lawyer.  In my experience, things will fall into place if you start with that as your rock.

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Starting a Law Firm | Filing and Withdrawing Your Attorney Appearance

In an effort to talk about some of the more practical aspects of starting a law firm, I wanted to talk about the filing and withdrawing of an attorney appearance on behalf of a client.

When I began practicing, I didn’t have a good grasp on what it meant to file and appearance for a client.  I knew I had to be competent and diligent in executing the case to the best of my ability.  I knew I had to act as an officer of the court.  I (thought) I knew I had to do everything in my power to protect my clients’ interests.  But, I didn’t know that I couldn’t just get out of a case if my client wasn’t paying me or because the client was difficult to deal with.

I am not saying that you cannot withdraw your attorney appearance if the client is not paying you or if the client is being unreasonably difficult which is hindering your good faith representation.  You can – IF the judge says you can.  If you file an appearance on behalf of the client, guess what, you are on the hook for being the voice of your client before the court no matter what.  That is a big responsibility and you should think of it that way.  This also means that client selection is hugely important.  It all really begins with that.

Most jurisdictions, and certainly Indiana (where I am licensed), require you to gain court approval before withdrawing your appearance on behalf of a client.  You must file a motion and support that motion with facts which meet your jurisdiction’s withdrawal standards.  You should also be VERY CAREFUL that you do not include facts that are going to hurt your client’s position because you still have a continuing duty to your client even if you are withdrawing.  Thus, don’t include a silly letter that throws your client under the bus if you are withdrawing.  There is simply no need for this. Furthermore, the judge may even set the withdrawal motion for hearing and you are going to be placed in the precarious position of supporting your withdrawal.

Now, what is the best way to withdraw without creating havoc for yourself, the court, the court staff, and your client?  Get the client’s approval.  Talk to your client about it.  Make sure you are on the same wavelength about the withdrawal.  This is important not only for your law firm and your client, but it helps keep a good reputation in the community.  You don’t want clients feeling dumped and bad mouthing your law firm – even if the client is a total nightmare who doesn’t pay the legal services bill.

Furthermore, you need to put your client withdrawal rights into your engagement letter and/or Agreement for Legal Services.  This is the document you have the clients sign and review when the attorney/client relationship starts.  There should be very clear language in those documents that delineates when and how you will be able to withdraw from representation; e.g. failure to pay you.  This is helpful for both withdrawing your appearance and for legal malpractice reasons.  In fact, I need to write a post entirely dedicated to the importance of the Agreement for Legal Services.

What I am trying to say is that you have to be above pettiness when starting a law firm.  This should sound obvious, but I practice with several local attorneys who sometimes don’t seem to understand this.  Again, as a lawyer, you are an officer of the court and you need to act like it.  I try (and big emphasis on the word try) to rise above the fray and be as ethical and as faithful to my clients’ best interests no matter how much I may want to act otherwise.  That way I hope my new law firm is ahead of the curve.

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Starting a Law Firm | Learning From Our Founding Fathers

I like to imagine that starting a law firm is akin to a great, cosmic struggle for success, legitimacy, and the universal right to achieve.   What better historical event could I use as an example of this struggle than the founding of our nation?

Ok, a little heavy-handed, I know.  But, I was listening to an enlightening interview of the author David McCullough on the Charlie Rose show this weekend.  If you do not know him, David McCullough is a well-decorated author of American historical fiction. To me, he is one of the great story-tellers of our national history.  If you have not checked out any of his books, you should.  In particular, I read his biography of John Adams several months ago and have continued to be struck by John Adams’  sheer determination to do what is just, honest, and right for his family and his country.

Perhaps you are wondering why this is being discussed on this blog.  My answer:  John Adams was a lawyer.  Not only that, John Adams, from all accounts I have read, was an excellent lawyer.  Among other feats, he successfully defended the English militia on a murder charge after the Boston Massacre. Furthermore, for the majority of his practicing career, he was a solo attorney – he started his own law firm.

In the interview, McCullough made a comment to Charlie Rose that, out of all his books, he may have been the most satisfied in writing the John Adams book because he was immersed in the lives of such remarkable and momentous people who drafted our Constitution and shaped our nation.  His comment showed his appreciation for what these men and women were up against and what they managed to achieve.  I find this comment akin to taking a leap of faith and starting your own law firm.

Additionally, many of the founders of our nation were lawyers.  That fact is terribly cool.  They were not only lawyers, but they were the kinds of lawyers that many of us aspire to be. Though flawed, these men were faced with a dire situation which required clear, concise thinking about difficult legal problems.

John Adams, apparently, also did not believe that all men were created equal – he only believed that all people were equal before the law.  I agree with that.  I also take inspiration from Adams’ efforts to do things his way.  He disdained mob culture and following the leader.  Instead, he was the leader.  I agree with this.

Perhaps a little sentimental, but I find inspiration wherever I can.  Starting a law firm is tough and it includes failing.  But, through perseverance and being a nose-to-the grindstone leader, I know I can achieve what I want and so can you.

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Starting a Law Firm | The Client Call

I haven’t talked much in this blog about how to actually answer a potential client phone call (assuming you have figured out how to get the phone to ring).   Stated another way:   How do you discuss a legal problem with a potential client whom you would like to hire you for your legal services?  After all, starting a law firm means you have to get people to hire you to be their lawyer.

First and foremost, you owe the client a duty to be competent to answer their questions in a lawyerly manner.  Competency is Rule Number 1 for a reason.  Additionally, I hope you know that your discussion is confidential.  If, in the middle of the phone call, you realize you can’t give competent legal advice, say so, and refer the person to another attorney or source that may be able to assist them.

Second, you owe a duty to the client to charge a reasonable rate which is determined by the legal market prices in your community and your level of experience.  In other words, your quoted billable rate must be reasonable.

Assuming you are competent to handle the matter, you can feel free to listen to the legal problem and give legal advice.  The question I often have in my practice is how long I need to listen and to what extent.  After all, many people will try and pump you for free legal advice.  Starting a successful law firm is not about giving free legal advice.

But, to some extent, you should be willing to give the client time to initially discuss their problem.  The ultimate choice about how much time you give them is yours. In my experience, many attorney will do one of two things when a new client calls:  (1) not answer the phone at all and simply ask the client to leave a message or have staff talk briefly with them or, (2) answer the phone, but only talk to the client briefly before telling them to schedule an appointment.

I don’t think the approaches listed above are necessarily wrong.  In fact, I have done some variation of both at one time or another.  However, my policy is to give EVERY caller time to explain their problem.  I am not always perfect about it, but this is my goal.

Why is this my goal?  Because clients are people and people want somebody to listen to them.   People don’t want to schedule an appointment to have somebody listen to their problem.  They want somebody to listen and understand right now.  That is just human nature.

I have often told people that I feel more like a social worker or a psychiatrist, at times, than a lawyer.  Maybe this is because I have taken on quite a few family law clients.  If you start a law firm and don’t chose family law as a niche area, perhaps your experience or approach will be different.  Still, I have found that clients – whether in the family law field or another legal field – want to talk about their problem.  I believe that my initial obligation is to listen.

If you want to start a law firm, you need to know how to get clients to hire you and how to keep them.  Doing this often means that you have to be really nice to people.  If you can do that, I would bet that you are putting yourself far ahead of many other lawyers.  My guess (although subjective and I have no real proof) is that attorneys often don’t treat people with a lot of respect.  This is a big mistake.

Starting a law firm, means that you have to have people skills.  If you don’t, I wish you luck. Me, I am going to continue to treat the client with the utmost respect, as if they are the boss, and with the belief that I am here to cater to their needs (within reason).

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Starting a Law Firm | New Blog Name

In case anybody cares and gets confused, I have changed the name of my blog to Going Solo | how to start a law firm.  The reason?  I am not licensed in the State of Minnesota (yet) and I don’t want to make an inference of any kind that I am.

Minnesota Rules of Professional Conduct, in pertinent part, provide that:

RULE 5.5:  UNAUTHORIZED PRACTICE OF LAW; MULTIJURISDICTIONAL
PRACTICE OF LAW
(a) A lawyer shall not practice law in a jurisdiction in violation of the regulation
of the legal profession in that jurisdiction, or assist another in doing so, except that a
lawyer admitted to practice in Minnesota does not violate this rule by conduct in
another jurisdiction that is permitted in Minnesota under Rule 5.5 (c) and (d) for
lawyers not admitted to practice in Minnesota.
(b) A lawyer who is not admitted to practice in this jurisdiction shall not:
(1) except as authorized by these rules or other law, establish an office or
other systematic and continuous presence in this jurisdiction for the practice of
law; or
(2) hold out to the public or otherwise represent that the lawyer is
admitted to practice law in this jurisdiction

. . .

I read that rule as being black-letter and being pretty clear.  A blog is certainly public, and despite any disclaimers or other information in the blog, I could see the blog title being considered as a misrepresentation.

Serving as an example of how to practice law and how to blog in an ethical fashion is very important to me.  I felt that the name of the blog could raise an unethical inference that I am licensed in Minnesota.  Thus, the change.  I am licensed in Indiana and have been running my own small law practice in Indiana, and I will be moving to Minnesota, but that isn’t good enough.

This post is interesting (at least to me) for several reasons:  (1) it gives me an ability to discuss ethical blogging and (2) it gives me the opportunity to talk about advising a client when starting a law firm.  After discussing this issue with my wife, I made the statement to her that if a client called me and asked for my legal advice on this situation, I would tell that person, without any doubt in my mind, that they were taking an unreasonable risk and, whether or not their situation resulted in an ethics problem, they should not even consider taking that risk.  There is simply no need.

I did include a legal disclaimer in my blog that I am not licensed in Minnesota yet, but I doubt many people have read the disclaimer and I am not sure that it would be good enough.  Also, in my opinion, if you read the blog, it is pretty clear that I am only licensed in Indiana.  But, in my own law practice, I have often told clients that I don’t care how careful they have been – the law is simple and if you take the risk of violating a law, you can be hurt by that risk.  So, to be safe, I have decided to change the name.

As any of the readers of this blog know, I am hoping to be licensed in Minnesota by the fall.  I am sitting for the July, 2011 bar exam.  Assuming I pass the exam and become licensed in Minnesota, this blog will go back to its original name.   Until then, I will continue blogging about how to start a law firm under the Going Solo moniker.

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Starting a Law Firm | Law Firm Marketing Plan

Starting a law firm means that you have to know how to develop a legal marketing plan.  As I’ve discussed in prior posts about law firm marketing and legal internet marketing, the duty to market your firm never ends.

Now, this concept is nothing new, and I suggest you check out the Nolo Legal Marketing Blawg for a plethora of wonderful tips on law firm marketing.  I hope to add more to the excellent discussion on that blog.

To that end, I wanted to open a dialogue related to developing a legal marketing plan. You do have a legal marketing plan, don’t you?  At my prior law firm, a lot of discussion revolved around whether an attorney was a rainmaker or not.  Often, in my experience, this revolved around whether the attorney was actually a good lawyer.  What I mean by this is, there seems to be a conception that attorneys who are good at marketing themselves are not the best lawyers.  The rationale seems to be that lawyers who are good lawyers don’t spend time marketing because they are too busy thinking about the law.  I want to dispel this myth.  You can be a good marketer and a good lawyer.

First, solo lawyers know that they need to market themselves in order for their firm to survive.  I suspect that many firms have people who are more adept at rainmaking and they bring in business for all of the other lawyers in the firm.  This was certainly my experience as a firm associate.  However, I found I was bringing in a lot of work, but I wasn’t getting a lot in return – thus, the starting my own law firm gig and this blog (however, that’s another story I won’t digress on here).

Ok, so how do you develop a legal marketing plan if you are not at a law firm and there is nobody who brings in the work for you?  That is the rub.  The first step is focus.  What do I mean by focus?  I mean, you need to think about your niche area very strongly and then you need to market directly to that chosen niche area.

For my law firm, I have chosen family law and trust and estates for three main reasons (1) family law brings in immediate work which equals money and (2) estate planning is something I enjoy and would like to focus on full time at some point and (3) I have prior experience in these areas and I think I am good at them.  Are those the best reasons for choosing a niche area?  I don’t know, but I know that legal marketing means focus and I intend to focus on them.  I don’t necessarily recommend either of those areas – you should do what you like and what your are competent at.

So, once you have chosen your niche, you need to start to develop a legal marketing plan on how you will get others (your potential clients) to notice you and your law firm and then call you.  There are many different ways to get people to notice you, but you should be careful to be ethical and garner the right kind of notice.   You need to get your name out in your immediate community in a positive way.  This takes attending business related functions like the Chamber of Commerce in you area or other community/business related activities.  This means creating relationships.

Another good source of legal business is other lawyers.  Lawyers often have conflicts of interest or cases they can’t (or don’t want to) handle.  If you are starving, another lawyer may throw you a bone.  You may not want the bone, but, if you are just starting a firm, you need to take what you can get at first.  Thus, your legal marketing should be focused on things like bar association meetings, continuing legal education, and other practice related seminars and conferences.

I won’t go into all of the different areas for this post, I just wanted to give you an idea that you first need to chose your niche area and then drill down the focus.  I plan to continue writing about the theme of law firm marketing in this blog and this was the opening salvo on my ruminations.  Learning how to start a law firm and market your firm is an evolving process and I intend on sharing my thoughts as my law firm evolves.

 

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Starting a Law Firm | Not-For-Profit Networking

Starting a law firm means that you have to network, a lot.  It’s been said over and over again, and I’m going to continue to say it because it is that important.

Starting a law firm means that you have to build a client base from your connections (otherwise referred to as your network).  Furthermore, when you begin your law career – either starting a law firm or as an associate attorney at a law firm – you are always going to have to network to bring in clients.  Being a solo attorney does not change this.  Additionally, there are many different ways to network and I have tried slight variations of many of them.  I plan to share as many of those variations as I can on this blog.  However, for the sake of brevity, I wanted to talk a little bit about Not-For-Profit Networking.

As an associate, I joined many different kinds of social organizations – some for-profit and some not-for-profit.  To be honest, I can’t say that either one was particularly lucrative in terms of bringing in clients.  However, networking in the not-for-profit field gets your name out in the community in a big way.  Furthermore, you might even really like your new job as a not-for-profit volunteer.  I’ve known people who quit their jobs to go work for the not-for-profit.

When I say not-for-profit, I am talking about joining a board of directors of a large organization or in some way lending a helping hand with an organization.  One thing to keep in mind is that if you join a not-for-profit for the sole basis of legal networking and building your law firm, I suggest you join a board of directors and network with other board members as much as possible.  The board of directors is often made up of community business and social leaders in your community.  When I say leaders, I mean these are typically people who run the show and who you want to know.

Furthermore, joining a board of a not-for-profit shouldn’t be just for the purposes of law firm networking.  If you aren’t committed, it will show.  The other board members will quickly realize you are a sycophant who is only there for the connections.  That is a bad idea and it isn’t good marketing for your law firm.  You might as well not be on the board.

Also, don’t over-extend yourself.  Only join boards or not-for-profits that you feel passionate about.  If you don’t care about the “mission”, you won’t do a good job.  You will also not do a good job if you are over-extending yourself.  Your first duty is as a lawyer and to your law practice.  Keep these rules in mind whenever you are making decisions about what to join and how much work it is going to be.

An examples of good not-for-profits are local healthcare, child care, religious, or other humanitarian related groups.  Examples include: Habit for Humanity and Big Brothers Big Sisters.   Furthermore, most social clubs like Kiwanis, Rotary, and the Knights of Columbus have groups in almost every major city in the country.  Again, I am not saying you should join these groups, I am simply giving you networking options.  I will admit that my membership in Kiwanis was not as effective as it could have been because I felt over-extended and it often came last in my though process on networking.  Perhaps that was because I was on two other board of directors of major not-for-profit organizations and I didn’t have a lot of time.

To recap, not-for-profit networking is an excellent way to hob-knob with the business and social leaders in your community.  You want to be one of those leaders.  These people open doors for you and your law firm. It might not necessarily bring in money to your new law firm right away, but the connections you make and the reputation you build will.  I don’t know why exactly, but it works.  This gets back to my idea of legal networking as hustle.  Furthermore, you need to network with these groups for the right reasons.  Don’t join if you are not going to contribute.  Also, don’t join too many groups and over-extend yourself.  If you follow these tips, you will meet people you like, you will be happy with the networking opportunities, and you will be something good not only for starting a law firm – but for the community at large.

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Starting a Law Firm | Who Owns the Client File?

Whether leaving and old firm or moving to a new jurisdiction, when starting a law firm, you need to be cognizant of who owns the old client file.  Also, from my review, you need to be cognizant of what jurisdiction you are in because, of course, the rules vary from state to state.

The first place to look is your state’s professional responsibility and/or ethics rules.  Another good place to look for model answers is the American Bar Association (ABA).  In particular, the ABA, in its “Materials and Client File Retention” page, quotes two  model rules:

Model Rule 1.16(d) states:
“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 that has not been earned. The lawyer may retain papers relating to the client to the extent permitted by other law.”

Model Code
DR 2-110(A)(2) provides that:
“In any event, a lawyer shall not withdraw from employment until he has taken reasonable steps to avoid foreseeable prejudice to the rights of his client, including giving due notice to his client, allowing time for employment of other counsel, delivering to the client all papers and property to which the client is entitled and complying with applicable laws and rules.”

To me the gist of the model rule does necessarily answer the question of who retains the client file.  As lawyers we are paid to interpret.  My interpretation is that, under the model rules, a lawyer must be concerned foremost with the client’s best interest and finishing the representation in a professional, competent, and agreeable manner which avoids any damage to the client.  After that is done, who retains the client file is not so important – it is the work product that goes into creating that file which is of the most importance.

In Indiana, where I am licensed, the Rules of Professional Conduct are similar and do not specifically state who retains the client file.  There are two rules specifically on point, Rule 1.15 and Rule 1.16.

Rule 1.15, entitled “Safekeeping Property”, in pertinent part, provides that:

(a)    A lawyer shall hold property of clients or third persons that is in a lawyer’s possession in connection with a representation separate from the lawyer’s own property. Funds shall be kept in a separate account maintained in the state where the lawyer’s office is situated, or elsewhere with the consent of the client or third person. Other property shall be identified as such and appropriately safeguarded. Complete records of such account funds and other property shall be kept by the lawyer and shall be preserved for a period of five years after termination of the representation.

Rule 1.16 states, in pertinent part that a lawyer may withdraw from representing a client if:

(1)    withdrawal can be accomplished without material adverse effect on the interests of the client

However, to me, neither of these rules answer the question of who retains the client file.  Is the client file client “property”.  This gets me to start thinking of argument for and against either the lawyer or the client keeping the file.  One argument in favor of the attorney owning the client file is that the attorney should have already made the entire file available to the client during the representation.  I make it a practice of sending a client nearly everything I do so that (1) they know I’m working on their case and (2) the have a copy of everything already.  Thus, the question may also be asked:  What is “the client file”?  Are there multiple client files?  Are there different versions of the client file?

The ABA suggests that the client should always have originals of documents like Wills, Deeds, Contracts, etc.  This seems obvious and I would hope the lawyers aren’t typically keeping originals of those sorts of documents.  There is also some authority a lawyer retaining a client file as security for getting paid.  I don’t necessarily recommend this practice, but, at least in Indiana, it is allowable under certain circumstances.

At the end of the day, I can’t necessarily tell you who owns the client file.  The answer, like some many in the gray hued world of the law is:  it depends.  From my review of the applicable law in my state, and from reviewing the model law, the concern appears to be related more to competency and confidentiality than to actual possession.  My advice, be clear with the client and ask them what they want to do.

Perhaps more importantly, I would suggest some form of electronic storage and putting the retention of the client file into your legal services agreement.  That way there is no confusion  Whether leaving a law firm or starting a law firm, you need to know your ethics and you need to know who gets the client file when the representation has ended.