All,

We are to the point on a particular case where our county wants to seek judicial review of a Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) unemployment decision. I would like to file the suit and represent the county. The suit must name the TWC as a defendant pursuant to statute.

My question is that since our office obviously represents the state in many criminal and civil matters, are we prohibited by conflict rules representing the county in a suit against a state agency?

Our deadline is coming, so any help would be much appreciated.

In the case of judicial review suits by a county against the TWC, the commission is represented by the Attorney General. I sued them a couple of years ago over an incorrect UI decision and while they raised many defenses, "conflict" was not one of them.

John,

Thanks for your insight.

I'm not as concerned about conflicts from a defense standpoint as from an ethical standpoint. A provision that gives me pause is Article 2.08 of the CCP, which states that "District and county attorneys
shall not be of counsel adversely to the State in any case, in any court..."

It doesn't seem right, however, that the county would have to hire outside counsel to pursue judicial review. Any other opinions?

I think you have to look at the nature of your representation and the status of the TWC in this type of litigation. You are not filing suit in the name of the State, nor are you suing the State. You are bringing suit on behalf of your County, which is a jural entity in its own right, and you are suing a State agency that has the capacity to be sued by way of a judicial review.

At least that's my story...and I'm stickin' to it.

[This message was edited by John C. Grace on 05-06-08 at .]