Opinion 1185

The Committee considered your inquiry concerning the destruction of client files. The Committee was of the opinion that a lawyer has no obligation to preserve client files forever, but before destroying files, a lawyer has an obligation to determine whether anything in file may have a reasonably foreseeable benefit to the client in the future. If so, the lawyer would be obligated to either provide it to the client or retain it. However, if there was no such thing of reasonably foreseeable value or benefit to the client, then the files could be destroyed.

Advisory Opinions are provided for the education of the Bar and reflect the opinion of the Committee on Professional Ethics (CPE) or its predecessors. Advisory Opinions are provided pursuant to the authorization granted by the Board of Governors, but are not individually approved by the Board and do not reflect the official position of the Bar association. Laws other than the Washington State Rules of Professional Conduct may apply to the inquiry. The Committee's answer does not include or opine about any other applicable law other than the meaning of the Rules of Professional Conduct.