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Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 5, Ch. 1, App. 3-A, R 1.16(d). The Comment
to rule 1.16 explains the last clause of the quoted rule above by
noting that the attorney may retain papers as a security for a
fee only to the extent permitted by law.
The Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct cited above
illustrate the fiduciary nature of the attorney-client
relationship. They emphasize the attorney’s duty to keep details
of his representation of a client confidential, even after the
representation has been terminated, and they suggest that, while
an attorney may retain documents related to his representation of
the client in certain situations, those documents rightfully
belong to the client and should not be disposed of or exposed in
a way that may be detrimental to the client. Although McVeigh
cannot and his successors likely will not attempt to have the
Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct enforced against
petitioner, the rules do suggest that petitioner is not the
exclusive owner of the materials, regardless of his rightful
possession of the materials themselves or of additional copies of
those materials, and that petitioner was not entitled to dispose
of, publicize, or capitalize on them for his personal gain.
Petitioners rely primarily on Corrigan v. Armstrong,
Teasdale, Schlafly, Davis & Dicus, 824 S.W.2d at 98, to support
their assertion of petitioner’s exclusive legal ownership of the
materials in issue in this case. However, the court in Corrigan
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Last modified: March 27, 2008