In an interview yesterday, Lenczner said he met Clitheroe at his Toronto-area farm last week to examine her legal options and believes she could sue for wrongful dismissal and defamation.

Clitheroe, fired by the interim Hydro One board over allegations she abused corporate perks, has said she has done nothing wrong and will go to court to clear her name. But she faces a substantial legal hurdle, because the province passed a law last month that prevents her from suing the government or Hydro One for wrongful dismissal.

However, Lenczner said he may be able to fight that in court.

"It's pretty draconian stuff," Lenczner said of the law. "You've got a contract, you think you've got a contract, and the government comes a long and says, 'Oh, guess what, we're going to deem that to be void.' ... Should we allow governments to do those sorts of things?"

Also, he said, "I'm not sure that the legislation has been drafted all that well. It was done in haste. ... [And] the courts don't like this kind of legislation."

Clitheroe could sue for defamation as well. "Were the words spoken of her by the chair defamatory, in the sense they were false? That's a good possibility, because she says that any of the things that she did were either approved by the human resources committee of the board or the chair of the board."

Glen Wright, Hydro One's interim chairman, said he fired Clitheroe for "a pattern of behaviour," which included billing the utility $330,000 for limousine service over three years (on top of her $174,644 annual car allowance) and $40,000 in renovations to her home, and charging items to the corporate credit card that were inappropriate. Because she was fired with cause, this makes her ineligible to collect a $6-million severance that was part of her previous contract.

A Bay Street insider said the government will have its hands full battling Lenczner. "[Hydro One] is going to be very sorry they took him on. He's a tough and brilliant litigator," said the insider. "If I were in a tough scrap and taking on the powers-that-be with deep pockets, Lenczner is the man."

Meanwhile, Clitheroe's future as a corporate director was cast in doubt yesterday after the three publicly traded companies on whose boards she sits -- Toronto-Dominion Bank, Dofasco Inc. and Inco Ltd. -- failed to give her an endorsement.

Neil Parmenter, a TD spokesman, said it is bank policy that a director tender his or her resignation in the event of "significant change" in that person's employment. However, Parmenter declined to say whether Clitheroe has submitted her resignation, saying it was a "confidential" matter.

Dofasco, the Hamilton steel maker, said it was reviewing the situation. "All [we] can say right now is that there is a process in place at the board level and it will be dealt with in due course," Ian Hamilton, a spokesman, said.

Inco declined comment.

Kevin Lennon, a spokesman for Clitheroe, said yesterday "nothing had changed" regarding her directorships. As a director at the three companies, she's entitled to the following:

The controversy spread to the Ontario provincial legislature yesterday, when the New Democratic Party called for a judicial inquiry into the firing, saying Clitheroe has become a "scapegoat" for the Conservative government's failed electricity policy.

Howard Hampton, the NDP Leader, said Ontarians are demanding answers from Ernie Eves, the Premier. "The government ... would want everyone to believe that Eleanor Clitheroe is this terribly evil person. But if you simply follow the paper trail, this didn't happen by accident. Government knew what they were getting.

"It wasn't as if the government wasn't warned about this -- about the incredible salary increases; about the incredible benefit increases and other pay packages. Those issues were being raised ... seven and eight months ago," said Hampton, a former Ontario attorney general, adding that Clitheroe has a case for a wrongful dismissal suit.