I would ask how significant a charge was made. I would also ask if the attorney purged the files of cases no longer relavent. Were the files resorted based on continued importance. Was a summary prepared of continuing cases? Some of the work your outgoing counsel did may be time saving in the future?

First, I would inquire for a breakdown of the charges. You mention he/she charged you to “review the files,” yet it seems that you were charge as well for the time to retrieve them from a distant location.

Would you dispute both types of charges?

From my experience attorneys tend to charge for every hour , or fraction thereof, of work they or any of their staff/associates put into a project for a client, even copying a few pages to send to a client, so the charge to retrieve, copy, and send them to you does not surprise me. I would possibly question the time and especially the need to “review them.” I can think of some reasons why he/she might want/have to do this, but I would like to hear it from them.

What about the new firm? It would make the most sense that the new firm now empowered to represent you make the request for all pertinent files and related information. Among the legal profession there are standards of ethics governing such changes. I have been part of several such changes but not for all municipal work and we let the new firm deal with the old firm. The only circumstance where this could have different implications would be matters of extreme sensitivity and confidentiality where the old firm might have legitimate interests in vetting documents to assure they are not left with any liability but even then it should be able to be handled between the 2 firms.