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The rise of lawyer mobility is a recent and remarkable development within the legal profession. In the past, movement of lawyers between firms was uncommon, but over the last thirty years lateral hiring has become the norm rather than the exception, and lawyers may expect to change their practice locales numerous times over their professional careers. The recent wide acceptance of lawyer mobility caused one court to describe the “revolving door” as a “modern-day law firm fixture.”

The era of lawyer mobility began in the 1980s and shows no signs of subsiding. To the contrary, in recent years, lateral moves of entire practice groups have become common. The moves are made possible because client loyalties run to lawyers as well as their firms, and some clients are more interested in the lawyers employ than the firms they retain. As an economic reality, client portability is vital to lawyer mobility.

The lawyer or law firm that controls client files has distinct advantages in any competition for clients. Not surprisingly, disputes over control and possession of client files have long occupied the attention of courts and ethics committees, which over the years have developed a significant body of case law and ethics opinions addressing myriad issues relating to client files. This authority, however, is largely directed to a world of “hard copy” files where pieces of paper neatly assembled within file folders invite a property-based analysis whenever disagreements over possession or access arise. Until recently, the most significant development requiring any rethinking of settled norms was the development of inexpensive duplicating mechanisms (e.g., copy machines, which replaced carbon copies). Although this development was significant on many levels, the greater ease with which hard copy material could be duplicated did not require fundamental changes in the law’s approach to client files. . .