(a) No state agency shall employ any in-house counsel to act on behalf of the state agency or its employees in any judicial or administrative adjudicative proceeding in which the agency is interested, or is a party as a result of office or official duties, or contract with outside counsel for any purpose, unless the agency has first obtained the written consent of the Attorney General pursuant to Section 11040.

(b) The Attorney General may provide written consent for a state agency to employ in-house counsel to represent the agency or its employees in any judicial or administrative adjudicative proceeding in whatever manner the Attorney General deems most effective and consistent with the intent of this article. However, a state agency shall obtain written consent for the use of outside counsel for a matter or matters for which the outside counsel is to be engaged before the execution of each contract with the outside counsel for the matter or matters.

Terms Used In California Government Code 11042

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • In-house counsel: means an attorney authorized to practice law in the State of California who is a state employee, including an excluded or exempt employee, other than an employee of the Office of the Attorney General. See California Government Code 11040
  • Outside counsel: means an attorney authorized to practice law in the State of California who is not a state employee, including an excluded or exempt employee. See California Government Code 11040
  • State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Government Code 18
  • state agency: includes every state office, officer, department, division, bureau, board, and commission. See California Government Code 11000

(Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 17, Sec. 9. (AB 103) Effective June 27, 2017.)

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