Gutierrez

I. INTRODUCTION

Our Supreme Court has held that in-house attorneys may state retaliatory discharge claims against their employers as long as such claims “can be established without breaching the attorney-client privilege or unduly endangering the values lying at the heart of the professional relationship.” (General Dynamics Corp. v. Superior Court (1994) 7 Cal.4th 1164, 1169 [ 32 Cal.Rptr.2d 1 , 876 P.2d 487 ] (General Dynamics).) It has also held that in-house attorneys come within the rubric of the attorney fee award provisions of Civil Code section 1717 (PLCM Group, Inc. v. Drexler (2000) 22 Cal.4th 1084 [ 95 Cal.Rptr.2d 198 , 997 P.2d 511 ] (PLCM)).

Today we face the related question of whether in-house attorneys come within the mandatory relief from default or dismissal provision of section 473 of the Code of Civil Procedure. The question is, as far as we are aware, one of first impression in California. However, based on what the Supreme Court said in General Dynamics and in PLCM about the role of in-house attorneys, there can be no doubt about the answer: yes.

There is a wrinkle in this case, however, that requires a little more explication. Here, the in-house…