A 5054: Allows approved claims of representatives for services rendered to a claimant in connection with an unemployment insurance claim to become a lien upon the benefit allowed; criminalizes certain violations relating to other forms of compensation in connection with an unemployment insurance claim; provides that a fee allowed shall be on a contingency basis and be equal to fifteen percent of the amount of the benefits to be paid to the claimant at the conclusion of services rendered.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5054 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY February 11, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. JACOBSON, STERN -- read once and referred to the Committee on Labor AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to the payment of fees allowed for representation in unemployment compensation cases The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 538 of the labor law is amended by 2 adding a new paragraph (g) to read as follows: 3 (g) When approved by the appeal board, claims of representatives for 4 services rendered to a claimant in connection with any claim arising 5 under this article shall become a lien upon the benefit allowed, but 6 shall be paid therefrom only in the manner fixed by the appeal board as 7 follows: 8 (i) Any other person, firm or corporation who shall exact or receive 9 fee or gratuity for any services rendered on behalf of a claimant except 10 in an amount determined by the appeal board, shall be guilty of a misde- 11 meanor. Any person, firm or corporation who shall solicit the business 12 of appearing before the appeal board on behalf of a claimant, or who 13 shall make it a business to solicit employment for a lawyer in 14 connection with any claim for benefits under this article shall be guil- 15 ty of a misdemeanor. 16 (ii) A fee allowed under this paragraph shall upon a contingency basis 17 and be equal to fifteen percent of the amount of the benefits to be paid 18 to the claimant at the conclusion of services rendered. This shall be 19 the only amount to be paid to the representative unless changed by a 20 court. The representative may not charge for out of pocket expenses 21 including but not limited to telephone, postage, other office expenses 22 and travel. In order to receive this fee, the representative and the 23 claimant must execute a retainer in which the terms of the fee arrange- 24 ment is clearly written in simple language. A sample retainer agreement 25 shall be produced by the department of labor. The application for a fee EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD03356-01-5 
 A. 5054 2 1 shall be made orally at the last hearing. Upon the time of the applica- 2 tion at the last hearing, the administrative judge may require a fee 3 application in writing describing the services rendered. A sample fee 4 application shall be produced by the department of labor. The fee 5 application shall not require an itemization of hours which the repre- 6 sentative worked on the case or out of pocket expenses of the represen- 7 tative. All forms shall have a link to translated versions in frequently 8 used non-English languages. 9 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed- 10 ing the date upon which it shall have become a law.