S 7860: Authorizes a requirement of pro bono service as a condition of admission to the bar or attorney registration; exempts pro bono work performed pursuant to an agreement with the federal government if the federal government designates the recipients of the pro bono work or type or types or nature of such legal services; provides for the expiration of such provisions upon the expiration thereof.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7860 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE May 9, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. HOYLMAN-SIGAL -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary AN ACT to amend the judiciary law, in relation to pro bono service by attorneys and candidates for admission to the bar The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 53 of the judiciary law, as 2 amended by chapter 450 of the laws of 1994, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 3. The court shall prescribe rules providing for a uniform system of 5 examination of candidates for admission to practice as attorneys and 6 counsellors, which shall govern the state board of law examiners in the 7 performance of its duties. Such rules may require a candidate for admis- 8 sion to the bar to complete a certain number of hours of qualifying pro 9 bono service prior to filing an application for admission; provided, 10 however, that such qualifying pro bono service shall not include any 11 hours assisting in the provision of legal services required pursuant to 12 an agreement between the candidate for admission's supervisor and the 13 federal government under which the federal government specifies the 14 recipient or recipients or type or types or nature of such legal 15 services. The court shall not by its rules cause to be barred from exam- 16 ination or, upon successful completion of the examination process, 17 subsequent admission to the state bar, provided [he or she] the candi- 18 date shall otherwise meet any requirements for admission, any person who 19 is currently admitted to practice in the jurisdiction of another state 20 and has received a degree from a law school which qualifies such person 21 to practice law in such state, other than a law school which grants 22 credit for correspondence courses, provided that such person has been 23 engaged in the actual practice of law in the state in which they are 24 admitted for no less than five years. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD11929-03-5 
 S. 7860 2 1 § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 468-a of the judiciary law, as added by 2 chapter 714 of the laws of 1981, is amended to read as follows: 3 3. The chief administrator shall prescribe the form in which such 4 registry of attorneys shall be maintained and the procedures for public 5 access thereto, and may make all such other rules and regulations neces- 6 sary and appropriate to implement and enforce the provisions of this 7 section. Such form may require an attorney to report the number of hours 8 of pro bono service completed by the attorney at the time the attorney 9 files a biennial registration statement; provided, however, that such 10 qualifying pro bono service shall not include any hours assisting in the 11 provision of legal services required pursuant to an agreement between an 12 attorney or the attorney's law firm and the federal government under 13 which the federal government specifies the recipient or recipients or 14 type or types or nature of such legal services. 15 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 16 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend- 17 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen- 18 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and 19 completed on or before such effective date.