---
title: "Close a Queensland personal injury file without destroying a document"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/close-the-personal-injury-file-and-decide-what-is-returned-kept-or-destr/queensland"
type: "task_jurisdiction_version"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "A21-ST20261023-10-QLD"
practice_area: "Personal Injury & Compensation (workers compensation, CTP/TAC, medical negligence)"
tier: "yellow"
lawyer_review: "required"
jurisdictions: ["QLD"]
last_reviewed: "2026-10-25"
---

# Close a Queensland personal injury file without destroying a document

> List the documents to return, keep, or propose for destruction, each with the reason the lawyer has written. Destroy nothing. Do not put confidential material into a public tool.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/close-the-personal-injury-file-and-decide-what-is-returned-kept-or-destr/queensland  
Last reviewed: 2026-10-25

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Practice area | [Personal Injury & Compensation (workers compensation, CTP/TAC, medical negligence)](https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation.md) |
| Human involvement | Yellow: Lawyer and AI draft together |
| How AI is used | List the documents to return, keep, or propose for destruction, each with the reason the lawyer has written. Destroy nothing. Do not put confidential material into a public tool. |
| What the lawyer must review | Rule 14.1 is return on request, unless there is an effective lien Rule 14.2 is seven years, subject to instructions and legal obligations The tool destroys nothing Confirm the current conduct rules before anything is destroyed |
| Written for | Queensland |
| Applies to | [Close the personal injury file and decide what is returned, kept or destroyed](https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/close-the-personal-injury-file-and-decide-what-is-returned-kept-or-destr.md) |

## Checking plan

**Verify against sources**

The list follows rule 14 as set out on the Queensland page. The lawyer decides what is returned, kept or later destroyed.

- What the AI does: List the documents to return, keep, or propose for destruction, each with the reason the lawyer has written. Destroy nothing. Do not put confidential material into a public tool.
- What the lawyer does: The lawyer decides what is returned, what is kept, and whether anything is later destroyed.
- Who reviews: Lawyer competent in this practice area
- Basis: Checked against the linked sources on 23 October 2026. Confirm the current instrument before reliance.

## Checks the lawyer makes

1. Rule 14.1: on completion or termination, the client or former client, or another person authorised by the client or former client, is given the client documents, or copies if they are electronic, as soon as reasonably possible when requested, unless there is an effective lien.
2. Rule 14.2, as set out on the Queensland Law Society page: a solicitor or law practice may destroy client documents after seven years from completion or termination of the engagement, except where client instructions or legal obligations say otherwise. The commentary says client consent is best secured. The tool does not destroy anything.
3. Each row is return, keep, or propose for destruction, with the reason the lawyer has written. A proposal is not a decision.
4. Queensland Courts say private, confidential, suppressed or privileged information is not entered into a public tool. Whether APP 11 applies depends on whether the firm is an APP entity. The lawyer decides that.

## Notes

- The conduct rules came into force in Queensland on 27 September 2024 and were amended again on 25 September 2026. The amendments were not read rule by rule. The relations page, as scraped on 23 October 2026, sets out rule 14. The lawyer confirms the current instrument before anything is destroyed.
- Health, wage and settlement material stays in a firm-controlled tool. Apply ASCR r 9 and APP 11, and consider whether a breach is notifiable under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

## Practical guide

Jurisdiction: Queensland, closing a plaintiff personal injury file

**Deliverable**: A list of documents to return, keep, or propose for destruction, with the lawyer's reason on each row. Nothing is destroyed.

**Inputs**

- The file index
- The reason the lawyer has written for each document

**Example**: Illustrative example: The list marks original photographs to return and a draft note to keep. It does not mark anything as destroyed.

**Stop and escalate when**

- The draft says a document has been destroyed.
- A row has no reason written by the lawyer.

Checked 2026-10-23.

## Sources

- [Queensland Law Society: Relations with clients](https://www.qls.com.au/practising-law-in-qld/ethics/australian-solicitors-conduct-rules/relations-with-clients) (checked 2026-10-23)
- [Queensland Law Society: Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules](https://www.qls.com.au/practising-law-in-qld/ethics/australian-solicitors-conduct-rules) (checked 2026-10-23)
- [Queensland Courts: Using generative AI](https://www.courts.qld.gov.au/going-to-court/prepare-for-court/representing-yourself/using-generative-ai) (checked 2026-10-23)

## Forms and precedents for this task

| Form or precedent | Kind | AI level | Summary |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [File retention and destruction schedule](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/confidentiality-and-client-information/firm-file-retention-destruction-schedule.md) | Checklist | Yellow | Schedule for keeping, returning or destroying a closed plaintiff injury file, using the client-documents rule opened for New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, and the separate privacy duty. |

Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*