Kelly v. Hunton & Williams
United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
1999 WL 408416 (1999)
Peter Kelly (plaintiff) worked as an associate at Hunton & Williams (H&W) (defendant) starting in 1990 and, though he passed the bar in 1991, hadn't finished his bar admission application by the time he learned firm partner Scott Wolas was committing billing fraud. Kelly reported the issue to several partners, some of whom had their own questionable investment dealings with Wolas, and shortly before Kelly was to meet with a former managing partner about the allegations, those investment partners forced Kelly to resign. Kelly sued for breach of his employment contract, arguing an at-will lawyer cannot be fired for reporting a colleague's ethics violation; H&W moved for summary judgment, arguing Kelly was an at-will, non-attorney employee since he wasn't yet bar-admitted.
Whether a law graduate not admitted to the bar but working at a law firm as an associate can be fired for reporting a colleague's violation of the Code of Professional Responsibility.