When Changing Representation, What Is A Client Entitled To?

Location: Arizona

My question is less about my particular case and more about the practice of law and an attorney's ethical obligations to a former client.

My personal injury attorney and I are parting ways. I won't get into the reasons, as they're not particularly relevant here. He asked me to sign a document consenting to his withdrawal as my attorney, and I responded by asking when I could expect to receive a complete copy of my client file.

It wasn't an acrimonious exchange, nor was my question intended to be confrontational. It was simply a procedural concern. His response was vague, so I explained that, because I still had matters pending before the court, I wasn't comfortable consenting to his withdrawal until I had reasonable assurance that I would receive my complete file. Again, this wasn't intended as a threat. I simply wanted to ensure I had the materials necessary to move forward with my case.

What I eventually received was about as bare-bones as a client file could possibly be. In fact, I already possessed copies of motions that had been filed with the court but were conspicuously absent from what he represented as my "complete file."

My state's bar association has an explicit ethical rule outlining what materials a client is entitled to receive upon termination of representation. I copied the relevant language from the State Bar's website and sent it to him, explaining that I expected my file to include the materials identified in that rule.

His response was to send me what appeared to be a CasePeer export, which was, for lack of a better word, practically unreadable. He also stated, unequivocally, that unless the State Bar specifically directed him to release additional materials, this was all I would be receiving. Full stop.

After considerable effort, I managed to make sense of the CasePeer file. To my surprise, it contained a great deal of useful information and detail that hadn't been included in the original materials.

There was, however, one conspicuous exception: a section labeled "Work Product," which was oddly empty.

I asked my former attorney about this directly. He told me that I was not entitled to the firm's work product. The problem is that the State Bar's own guidance explicitly identifies attorney work product as something a former client is entitled to receive.

So here's what I'm trying to understand:

What exactly might an attorney consider "work product" that he would be so adamant about withholding from a former client? I understand that attorneys generate internal notes, research, legal analyses, strategy documents, and other materials over the course of representation. But why would an attorney be so resistant to turning those materials over, particularly when the attorney-client relationship is ending and the client still has pending litigation?

Is there a legitimate professional or ethical justification for withholding these materials? Or is this something I should consider raising in a complaint to the State Bar?

I'm reluctant to assume misconduct simply because my former attorney is being uncooperative. At the same time, his insistence on withholding materials that the State Bar appears to say I'm entitled to receive strikes me as unusual, especially given how incomplete the initial file was.

I can't shake the feeling that something isn't right here, although I can't identify precisely what he might be trying to conceal or why.

I'd appreciate hearing from attorneys or anyone who has encountered a similar situation. Is this normal practice, a legitimate disagreement over what constitutes a client file, or a potential ethical violation?

Thanks in advance.