The file pertaining to a pending action shall not be taken from the office of the clerk, register or probate judge except by an attorney of record of a party to the action upon a receipt in writing signed by such attorney, stating the number and title of the case and the papers contained in the file. If any of such papers are lost, mislaid, destroyed or mutilated before a return of the file and a surrender of the receipt, the costs of substituting them must be paid by the attorney taking them.