Texas In-House Attorney Fired After Posting Instagram Story at Capitol Building

An in-house attorney at Westlake, Texas-based Goosehead Insurance was fired from the company Thursday, after he posted a video on Instagram while standing outside the U.S. Capitol building in a crowd of demonstrators, on the same afternoon that a mob of Trump supporters attacked the building.

On Wednesday, numerous Trump supporters went to Washington, D.C., to object to the Senate certifying votes for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris. Eventually, a number of them made their way past Capitol police and stormed into the building as senators and representatives were evacuated.

Paul Davis, associate general counsel at Goosehead Insurance, posted a video outside of the Capitol building surrounded by other protesters. In the video, he claims to have been tear gassed along with the rest of the crowd and said he wanted public officials to audit the election results.

On Thursday morning, following several calls on Twitter for his removal, the company tweeted “Paul Davis, Associate General Counsel, is no longer employed by Goosehead.” A spokesperson for Goosehead Insurance, reached for comment Thursday, said “Paul Davis is no longer employed by Goosehead” but did not go into further detail.

In an Instagram story posted early Thursday morning, Davis contended that he was not trying to break into the Capitol building.

According to the Texas State Bar Association’s attorney page, Davis graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in 2011. The spokesperson from Goosehead Insurance would not comment on how long he had been with the company. His previous employment history could not be immediately confirmed Thursday, and he does not appear to have a LinkedIn profile.

Numerous people on social media have praised Goosehead Insurance’s decision to terminate Davis’ employment, and some have called for Davis to be disbarred. It is not clear if anyone has filed a grievance against Davis with the State Bar of Texas.

“State law requires the State Bar of Texas to keep all disciplinary case information confidential unless it has been filed in district court or results in a public sanction. As a result, the bar is often unable to even discuss the existence of a grievance,” a spokesperson for the State Bar of Texas said in an email to Corporate Counsel on Thursday.

Efforts to reach Davis on Thursday were unsuccessful.

Goosehead Insurance is a publicly traded company founded in 2003. The company reported 2020 third-quarter revenues to be $32 million.