§ discipline

Safeguard documents and limit liens money

On completion or termination the lawyer must deliver up client documents and property as soon as reasonably possible, retaining or destroying files only per retention rules, and may exercise any lien only as properly permitted.

161 cases 60% strike-off avg suspension 28.5 mo avg fine 86,350 22 with dishonesty finding

How the codes express this duty

E&W Solicitors SRA Principles & Code CCS 4.2 partial 76 cases
4.2 You safeguard money and assets entrusted to you by clients and others.

SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors, RELs and RFLs · 2019 · archived copy · official source ↗

E&W Barristers BSB Handbook rC131 partial
rC131 Save where otherwise agreed: .1 you shall be entitled to copy all documents received from your lay client, and to retain such copies; .2 you shall return all documents received from your lay client on demand, whether or not you have been paid for any work done for the lay client;

BSB Handbook · current · archived copy · official source ↗

Cayman Islands Legal Services Code 2026 R.4.2(d); R.4.3(g); R.4.8 partial
reasonable details about the recovery of unpaid costs (at the point of termination), the ownership of documents and timescales for the destruction of files and data... details of the circumstances in which the attorney-at-law or recognised law entity may be entitled to exercise a lien for unpaid fees and disbursements

Cayman Islands Legal Services Code of Professional Conduct · 2026 · archived copy

AU Solicitors Solicitors' Conduct Rules Rules 14.1; 14.2; 15.1 strong 19 cases
14.1 ...upon completion or termination of the law practice's engagement: the client or former client... is given any client documents... as soon as reasonably possible when requested to do so by the client, unless there is an effective lien. 14.2 A solicitor or law practice may destroy client documents after a period of 7 years... 15.1 ...when a solicitor claims to exercise a lien for unpaid legal costs over client documents which are essential to the client's defence or prosecution of current proceedings...

Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules · 2015 (June 2026 compilation) · archived copy · official source ↗

AU Barristers Uniform Barristers Rules no clear equivalent
IE Solicitors Law Society Guide Ch10 — The solicitor's lien on monies; Ch7 — The file belongs to the client strong 38 cases
A solicitor cannot exercise a lien on monies coming into the solicitor's control if the monies were sent to him for a specific purpose, such as for the payment of stamp duty. If a solicitor holds monies in the client account that are greater than the amount due to the solicitor, the exercise of the lien should be limited to the amount due... Once the fees and outlay of a solicitor have been paid, the file belongs to the client.

Solicitor's Guide to Professional Conduct (Law Society of Ireland) · 4th ed. (2022) · archived copy · official source ↗

IE Barristers Bar Code of Conduct Rule 6.10; Rule 3.7(c)-(d) strong 38 cases
The papers in any brief or instructions delivered to a Barrister are the property of the client. Barristers have no right without the consent of the client or solicitor to lend them or reveal their contents to any person save in accordance with Rule 3.7. At the conclusion of the case Barristers should return the papers to the instructing solicitor (if there is an instructing solicitor), unless otherwise agreed.

Code of Conduct for the Bar of Ireland · 2024 · archived copy · official source ↗

JM Attorneys Canons of Professional Ethics Canon IV(o)(iii); Canon VII(c) strong 19 cases
[on withdrawal] (iii) delivering to the client all documents and property to which he is entitled ... [VII(c)] Nothing in these Canons shall deprive an Attorney of any recourse or right whether by way of lien, set-off, counter-claim, charge or otherwise against monies standing to the credit of a client's account maintained by that Attorney.

Legal Profession (Canons of Professional Ethics) Rules · 1978 (principal) · archived copy · official source ↗

JE Lawyers Law Society of Jersey Code R.1.2 e); R.1.3 h); R.1.10; G.1.33 strong
All files or records of any material matter shall be retained by a member's firm... for at least 11 years from the last material entry... a member... shall... deliver to the client all papers or property to which the client is entitled, or otherwise held to the client's order. The handing over of documents... must be in accordance with the provisions of Annex 1. The client must be advised in writing of... the ownership of documents and timescales for the destruction of files/data... and... details of the circumstances in which the member, employee or firm may be entitled to exercise a lien for unpaid fees and disbursements.

Law Society of Jersey Code of Conduct · 1 January 2017 · archived copy · official source ↗

ON Lawyers LSO Rules of Prof. Conduct r 3.7-9(b); r 3.5-2 commentary [2] strong
3.7-9(b) subject to the lawyer's right to a lien, deliver to or to the order of the client all papers and property to which the client is entitled. [3.5-2 cmt 2: the lawyer ... should, subject to any rights of lien, promptly return them to the client upon request or at the conclusion of the lawyer's retainer.]

Law Society of Ontario — Rules of Professional Conduct · current · archived copy · official source ↗

BC Lawyers BC Code r 3.7-9(b) strong 1 case
On discharge or withdrawal, a lawyer must, as soon as practicable: ... (b) subject to the lawyer's right to a lien, deliver to or to the order of the client all papers and property to which the client is entitled;

Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia (BC Code) · 2017 · archived copy · official source ↗

NZ Lawyers Conduct & Client Care Rules r 4.4.1 / r 4.4.2 strong
Subject to any statutory provisions to the contrary, upon changing lawyers a client has the right ... to uplift all documents, records, funds, or property held on the client's behalf. The former lawyer must act upon any written request to uplift documents without undue delay subject only to any lien that the former lawyer may claim.

Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008 · SR 2008/214 · archived copy · official source ↗

SCO Solicitors LSS Standards of Conduct no clear equivalent
SG Lawyers Professional Conduct Rules 2015 no clear equivalent
HK Solicitors Solicitors' Guide Principle 5.23 strong
On termination a solicitor should, subject to any lien, promptly deliver to the client or his new solicitor all papers and property to which the client is entitled or hold them to his order and account for all funds of the client then held by the solicitor.

Hong Kong Solicitors' Guide to Professional Conduct (Volume 1) · current · archived copy · official source ↗

HK Barristers Bar Code of Conduct para 7.13(c)(viii) partial
When no longer required, all confidential material should be disposed of securely, for example, by returning it to the person instructing the barrister, shredding papers, permanently erasing information stored electronically and securely disposing of any electronic devices which hold confidential information.

Code of Conduct of the Bar of the Hong Kong SAR · 2018 · archived copy · official source ↗

Cases dealing with this duty

Clear

161 decisions · link basis: found breached = a tribunal finding; rule cited = the mapped provision is cited in the decision; text match = high-precision text pattern

Duty classification does not yet cover every jurisdiction (Ontario, New Zealand and Singapore decisions are indexed but not yet duty-classified), so counts here understate those corpora.