Can I deduct civil defense lawyer fees for a matter where I'm named personally but occurred while employed by my former employer who is out of business?

No. Legal fees are only deductible in instances where they are incurred for the purposes of:

producing or collecting taxable income, or;

helping to determine, collect or obtain a refund of any tax.

Personal legal fees can not be deducted, sorry.

It depends -

The IRS basic rule is that you can deduct attorney's fees you pay to:

• produce or collect taxable income, or
• help determine, collect, or obtain a refund of any tax.

Simply put, you can take a deduction if you need an attorney's help to make money you’ll have to pay tax on; or if an attorney helps you with a tax matter, like representing you in an IRS audit.