Case Details

Issues

Conflict Of Interest, Control Of Litigation, Status In State Government

Filing State

CT

Court

Connecticut Supreme Court

Year

1979

Citation

Connecticut Commission on Special Revenue v. Connecticut Freedom of Information Comm’n, 387 A.2d 533, 537 (Conn. 1979).

Resolution

Regular ethics rules do not apply to attorney general, with respect to conflict of interest in representing state agencies.

Case Description

“The attorney general is in a “unique position . . . . This special status of the attorney general where the people of the state are his clients cannot be disregarded in considering the application of the code of professional responsibility to the conduct of his office.” The court refused to find that the attorney general violated the code in representing both appellee and appellant state agencies, recognizing that “if the attorney general is to have the unqualified role of chief legal officer of the state, he or she must be able to direct the legal affairs of the state and its agencies.”