Licensees must give clients or former clients specified working papers and records on request, with reasonable notice, and may not sell or transfer them without the client's consent except to certain successors.
§87. Licensee's working papers; client records A.(1) Subject to the provisions of R.S. 37:86, all statements, records, schedules, working papers, and memoranda made by a licensee or a partner, shareholder, officer, director, member, manager, or employee of a licensee incident to or in the course of rendering services to a client while a licensee, except the reports submitted by the licensee to the client and except for records that are part of the client's records, shall be and remain the property of the licensee in the absence of an express agreement between the licensee and the client to the contrary. No such statement, record, schedule, working paper, or memorandum shall be sold, transferred, or bequeathed without the consent of the client or the client's personal representative or assignee to anyone other than one or more surviving partners, stockholders, members, or new partners, new stockholders, or new members of the licensee or any combined or merged firm or successor in interest to the licensee. (2) This Section shall not prohibit any temporary transfer of work papers or other material necessary in the course of carrying out peer reviews or the disclosure of information pursuant to R.S. 37:86. B. A licensee shall furnish to a client or former client upon request and reasonable notice the following: (1) A copy of the licensee's working papers that are records which would ordinarily constitute part of the client's records and are not otherwise available to the client. (2) Any accounting or other records belonging to or obtained from or on behalf of the client that the licensee removed from the client's premises or received for the client's account. The licensee may make and retain copies of such documents of the client when they form the basis for work done by the licensee. (3) Any other items as specified by the board by rule. C. This Section shall not require a licensee to retain any work paper beyond the period prescribed in R.S. 37:89. D. This Section shall apply to all formats of documents including paper and electronic and regardless of storage location. Acts 1979, No. 510, §1; Acts 1992, No. 294, §2, eff. June 17, 1992; Acts 1995, No. 190, §2; Acts 1999, No. 473, §1, eff. June 18, 1999; Acts 2016, No. 553, §1.