Howard K. Heims, Esq. & Littman, Sherlock & Helms, P.A. v. GMS Marine Service Corp., JBM Enterprise, and James Mills

Former counsel, Howard Heims and Lit-man, Sherlock & Heims, P.A., petition for certiorari review of a sua sponte order requiring them to allow successor counsel to inspect and copy documents in Heims’ client file. We grant the petition and quash the trial court’s order.

Petitioners have asserted a retaining lien over^ the file and refused to provide records until the client pays its bill. In ruling on a discovery matter between the parties, the court sua sponte ordered former counsel to make its file available for inspection and copying, but provided its retaining lien would be preserved.…