Robert B. Weintraub v. Phillips

Plaintiff, an attorney and former associate at the law firm of defendant Phillips, Nizer, Benjamin, Krim & Ballon commenced
the underlying action against the law firm, its client Occidental Petroleum Corporation ("Occidental"), and nine individual
partners of the law firm for, inter alia, wrongful discharge, breach of an employment contract and defamation. Plaintiff was
discharged after he and other Phillips, Nizer attorneys were disqualified from appearing before the United States District
Court for the Southern District of Texas because of conduct in violation of the Texas disciplinary code. Plaintiff's first, third, fourth, and sixth through eleventh causes of action, for breach of fiduciary duty, were properly
dismissed, since it is well settled in New York that no fiduciary obligation is owed by an employer to an at-will employee
(Murphy v. American Home Products Corp., 58 N.Y.2d 293). A violation of the Code of Professional Responsibility, as alleged
by the plaintiff, does not, in itself, give rise to a private cause of action against an attorney or law firm (Drago v. Buonagurio,
46 N.Y.2d 778).