A practice sold or closing
Selling a law practice: the closed files and the clients' consent
When a practice is sold or closes, its closed matters are a question of their own. The rules treat a sale of the practice differently from a licence of its files.
Rule 1.17 and the practice as a whole
ABA Model Rule 1.17 lets a lawyer or a law firm sell or purchase a law practice, including good will, on conditions, among them written notice to each client of the proposed sale and of the client's right to retain other counsel or to take possession of the file. The rule moves files to the lawyer who buys the practice; it says nothing that would license them to anyone else.
The files stay in confidence
The SRA's guidance requires the affairs of current and former clients to be kept confidential unless disclosure is required or permitted by law or the client consents. Under section 170 of the Data Protection Act 2018 it is an offence for a person knowingly or recklessly to obtain or disclose personal data without the controller's consent.
Who would take the material
Mercor's listing names litigation boutiques, mid-size full-service firms, in-house legal departments and e-discovery providers as the organisations it is looking for. The buyers we read are on who buys case files.