On January 21, 2026, the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility issued Formal Opinion 520 regarding a lawyer’s obligation to convey information to a former client or successor counsel.   

Both ABA Model Rule 1.16(d) and Texas Disciplinary Rule of Professional Conduct 1.16(d) require a lawyer to take steps to the extent reasonably practicable to protect a client’s interests upon termination of the representation.  Opinion 520 concludes that this includes “complying with a request by a former client or by a former client’s successor counsel for certain information that is not already memorialized in the client’s file.” 

As we have previously discussed in our Top Tips, upon termination of a representation, even if the lawyer is unfairly discharged, the lawyer is required to turn over to the client upon request the client’s entire file, which includes electronic documents (emails, texts, etc.), attorneys’ notes and other work product. The client is entitled to all documents that were created or amassed during the course of the…