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Opinion

Opinion By: Jack Conway, Attorney General; James M. Ringo, Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Decision

This matter having been presented to the Attorney General in an open records appeal, and the Attorney General being sufficiently advised, we find that Shawn R. Ryan, a private attorney, is not bound by, and therefore did not violate, the Open Records Act in failing to respond to former client Johnny Penn's request for records related to his case. We believe that 07-ORD-210 and 04-ORD-215, copies of which are attached hereto and incorporated by reference, are controlling. Although private attorneys may be obligated under the Rules of Professional Conduct governing attorneys licensed to practice law in Kentucky to provide records from his client's case file, 1 they are not obligated to do so under the Open Records Act.

A party aggrieved by this decision may appeal it by initiating action in the appropriate circuit court pursuant to KRS 61.880(5) and KRS 61.882. Pursuant to KRS 61.880(3), the Attorney General should be notified of any action in circuit court, but should not be named as a party in that action or in any subsequent proceeding.

Footnotes

Footnotes

1 See SCR 3.130(1.16)(d), which provides: "Upon termination of representation, a lawyer shall take steps to the extent reasonably practicable to protect a client's interests, such as giving reasonable notice to the client, allowing time for employment of other counsel, surrendering papers and property to which the client is entitled and refunding any advance payment of fee that has not been earned."

LLM Summary
The decision concludes that private attorney Shawn R. Ryan did not violate the Open Records Act by failing to respond to a records request from former client Johnny Penn, as private attorneys are not bound by this Act for such requests. The decision references previous opinions (07-ORD-210 and 04-ORD-215) to support this conclusion, noting that while attorneys may have obligations under professional conduct rules, these do not extend to the Open Records Act.
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Requested By:
Johnny Penn
Agency:
Shawn R. Ryan
Type:
Open Records Decision
Lexis Citation:
2008 Ky. AG LEXIS 257
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