State Bar seeks attorney input on economic state of the legal profession
The State Bar of Michigan is seeking attorney input that will provide data courts use to determine attorney fees and will help all Michigan lawyers determine how their salaries measure up.
Conducted every three years, the Economics of Law survey compiles average income levels for more than 50 specific fields of practice and collects a variety of other data including race, gender, and geographic location. The survey helps determine county-by-county and statewide average billing rates and income for both private and non-private practice attorneys in all occupation areas.
The survey will open in 2026. Michigan attorneys will receive emails inviting them to participate. Participation from both private and non-private practice attorneys is crucial to ensure the accuracy of the report.
To read previous Economics of Law reports, visit www.michbar.org/opinions/content.
SBM issues ethics opinion on handling files after attorney and client part ways
The State Bar of Michigan’s Standing Committee on Professional Ethics issued a new ethics opinion offering guidelines on how to handle the disposition of files when a lawyer-client relationship is terminated.
The opinion, RI-392, was issued December 12, and builds upon Formal Opinion R-19, issued in 2000. The new opinion focuses on what exactly a client is entitled to receive upon the termination of representation.
“Among other things, R-19 opined that a client’s right is one of access rather than possession or ownership. While R-19 provided helpful guidance on the subject of lawyer files, several questions persist: What does ‘access’ to the files mean? To what portions of the lawyer’s file does a client have a right of ‘access?’ How many times must ‘access, be granted? These and related questions were not answered specifically in R-19 but frequently arise in the context of termination of a lawyer’s representation,” RI-392 states.
The new opinion goes on to break down various aspects of file disposition after termination of client-attorney relationships, including the following:
• Proper means of giving access
• Providing paper vs electronic copies
• Scope of information to which access must be given
• Charging for copies
• Record retention
• Multiple copy requests
• Damaged files
• Disposition of files upon a lawyer’s retirement
• Attorney liens
To read the full opinion, visit https://www.michbar.org/opinions/ethics/numbered_opinions/RI-392.
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