I’m a CPA that has to practice under certain ethics rules which address the issue of returning documents to clients. There is no requirement for me to return documents that I have prepared or that the client has prepared under my request. This sounds simple but in practice the lines between what is my property and what is the clients property can be murky.
I don’t know what attorneys have for similar ethics but I imagine there may be legitimate questions regarding what documents they must provide and what documents that must be provided. For example, internal memos regarding whether their are any conflicts of interest may be argued that they are not required to be disclosed.
The judge bringing in a ethics expert may simply be his way of addressing legitimate ethical questions.
The wording in the judge’s order to Flynn’s former lawyers suggests that they were withholding the documents over a fee dispute.
These are attorneys in an ongoing trial.
The Judge believes the attorneys have been unethical.
The lawyers rules are real clear. You have to give the client the file, especially if he’s a criminal case defendant and withholding the file might impair his ability to defend himself.