Wash. Lets In-House Counsel Sue Employer for Firing (Corrected)

The in-house attorney for a Washington state corrections officers guild can sue the guild for wrongful termination and breach of contract, the state’s highest court recently ruled.

The ruling is an acknowledgment of the evolving nature of jobs that attorneys hold and a rejection of the “rigid interpretation” of a legal ethics rule that protects a client’s right to terminate an attorney at any time and for any reason.

“Solely in the narrow context of in-house employee attorneys, contract and wrongful discharge suits are available, provided these suits can be brought without violence to the integrity of the attorney-client relationship,” ...