To each his own: which papers belong to the solicitor?

Although it has previously been established that clients don't necessarily own all of their solicitors' file, clients don't always appreciate this when making a file request. Some recent case law provides support to solicitors when dealing with such requests.

Regular readers of this blog will remember that we have previously reported on what solicitors should do when faced with a request for their file by a client, and the Law Society Guidance as to which documents a solicitor does and doesn't have to hand over. Contrary to popular (disgruntled client) belief, it isn't simply a case of handing over every single piece of paper relating to the client's matter; some documents do actually belong to the solicitor, and they can hold on to them if they want to (disclaimer: this relates to file requests only and not to responding to requests for documents in a letter of claim or dealing with disclosure, both of which have different rules). Our previous blogs (here and here) set out the correct position in detail and provide some useful practical guidance.

However, some Claimants and their solicitors still attempt to circumvent the rules. Solicitors and their insurers will no doubt be pleased to learn that, despite this, the courts are upholding the true position, and a recent judgment may be of some assistance to those firms who are still being met with such requests from those who don't understand or want to ignore the rules. In Hanley v JC & A Solicitors, the Claimant sought delivery up of copies of parts of the file over which he had no proprietary rights. The Defendant solicitors resisted the request, and so the matter made its way to the courts. Justice prevailed and the Master said that she was "concerned by the floodgates that would likely be opened" were there to be a ruling that solicitors could be ordered to hand over their complete file, as considerable satellite litigation would likely ensue. This follows previous similar rulings in December 2017 so the courts seem to be aligned in this regard.