Nonresident attorney's right to practice law in New York State

Nonresident attorney's right to practice law in New York State

Schoenefeld v. State of New York, et al., USCA, 11-4283-cv

The U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York, held that Section 470 of the Judiciary Law, which requires nonresident attorneys to maintain an “office for the transaction of law business” within the state of New York in order to practice in New York courts, places an impermissible burden on Ms. Schoenefeld’s fundamental right to practice law and that the state “failed to establish either a substantial state interest advanced by [the statute], or a substantial relationship between the statute and that interest” [Schoenefeld v. New York, 907 F. Supp. 2d 252, (N.D.N.Y. 2011)].

The State appealed and the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, certified the following question to the State’s Court of Appeals:

Under New York Judiciary Law Section 470, which mandates that a nonresident attorney maintain an "office for the transaction of law business" within the state of New York, what are the minimum requirements necessary to satisfy that mandate?

The Circuit panel retained jurisdiction to decide the case “once we have the benefit of the views of the New York Court of Appeals or once that court declines to accept certification."

The Second Circuit Court’s ruling is posted on the Internet at:

http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/7ad54af4-96b8-488a-b70c-22bc07f8de82/7/doc/11-4283_opn.pdf#xml=http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/7ad54af4-96b8-488a-b70c-22bc07f8de82/7/hilite/
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