(The Center Square) – Washington State Bar Association investigated Gov. Bob Ferguson when he was attorney general in 2023 for his office’s handling of a lawsuit that cost taxpayers $3 million, new documents obtained by The Center Square show.
The confidential investigation found insufficient evidence to prove wrongdoing, but the WSBA probe has never been reported, according to the records obtained for the AGO’s office through an open records request.
The Center Square also obtained records showing other complaints were filed against Ferguson while he was serving as attorney general, but they were dismissed without further investigation or directed to Ferguson’s private attorneys.
In 2023, the state agreed to a $3 million settlement with Emily Tobin, a woman with developmental disabilities who claimed she was neglected after being placed at an adult family home run by the state. As part of the settlement, a King County Superior Court judge fined the state $200,000 after it was found that the AGO had engaged in “egregious” and “cavalier” failure to turn over tens of thousands of records to Tobin’s attorney.
In response, a complaint was filed on May 4 with the WSBA against Ferguson, alleging that he “has not made reasonable efforts to ensure that the Office of the Attorney General has in effect measures giving reasonable assurance that all lawyers in the office conform to the Rules of Professional Conduct.”
The complaint was filed by Anne Block, a former attorney whom the WSBA previously investigated and unanimously recommended to disbar. The State Supreme Court disbarred Block in 2016 for violating rules of professional conduct for attorneys.
During those proceedings, Block attempted to resign from WSBA and unsuccessfully sued the association in federal court.
The Center Square reached out to Block with a request for an interview, but in an email response she did not address the issues in this story.
In their initial response to Block’s complaint against Ferguson, the WSBA said in a June 5, 2023, letter that it would defer the issue until the legal proceedings ended. The settlement was finalized in July of that year.
On Sept. 8, 2023, the complainant and Ferguson received a letter from disciplinary counsel Francisco Rodriguez stating the investigation had begun.
Block had previously protested the involvement of WSBA Managing Disciplinary Counsel Craig Bray, saying he should assign the case to another individual due to his prior work as a special assistant attorney general with the AGO. The Center Square was able to obtain this email via a public records request because Block cc’d the AGO in the email so it “stays inside public records.”
Solicitor General Noah Purcell, who also co-chairs the AGO Ethics Committee, eventually responded to WSBA “on behalf of Attorney General Bob Ferguson and the Attorney General’s Office,” noting that the AGO has 31 legal divisions, nearly 800 assistant attorneys general, and more than 1,000 support staff. In total, the AGO handles 20,000 cases at “any given time,” he wrote.
“Given this immense scale, the Attorney General of course cannot and does not directly supervise the litigation of each case,” he wrote.
“Discovery failures in large law firms do not mean, however, that managing attorneys have violated their obligations under the Rules of Professional Conduct (RPCs),” Purcell wrote further. “Rather, that question turns on whether the attorney has met the requirements imposed on managing lawyers by the RPCs. The Attorney General has met those obligations here.”
Rodriguez then later requested additional information from Purcell, who responded on Feb. 8.
On April 18, 2025, the WSBA wrote a letter to Block stating that “based on the information we have received, insufficient evidence exists to prove unethical conduct by Ferguson by a clear preponderance of the evidence in this matter. The sheer size of the AGO and the volume of cases the AGO handles make it challenging to prove Ferguson is responsible for errors made by those far removed from Ferguson’s direct supervision.”
The Center Square reached out to the WSBA with documents related to its investigation into Ferguson and inquired whether or not any AGO attorneys were disciplined, fine, or reprimanded due to the Tobin lawsuit. The Center Square also asked if it is customary to receive a response on behalf of an attorney from someone else without their name or signature on it.
Chief Communications and Outreach Officer Sara Niegowski responded in an email that “I checked in with our Office of Disciplinary Counsel to confirm we have no public disciplinary information related to your inquiry.”
Grievances about a lawyer are not public because the Washington Supreme Court’s Rules for Enforcement of Lawyer Conduct require the WSBA to maintain the confidentiality of such information. In most situations, a grievance only becomes public when a review committee of the Disciplinary Board orders the matter to a formal hearing or that a lawyer be admonished, at which point certain documents on file become public records and the existence of the matter becomes public information.”
The Center Square reached out to Ferguson’s Office for comment, but did not receive a response.
