For those intending to apply for admission to the New York State Bar, a reminder that you will be required—after passing the Bar exam and before being admitted—to submit two types of notarized affidavits that your employers will sign:
1) Legal Employment Affidavits from every law-related position you have held, including paid or unpaid internships, summer associate positions, volunteer work in law school clinics or elsewhere: http://www.nycourts.gov/courts/ad4/clerk/attymttrs/employment.pdf;
2) A form confirming your pro bono hours: http://www.nycourts.gov/attorneys/probono/AppForAdmission_Pro-BonoReq_Fillable.pdf
As some of you are completing summer internships, it may be helpful to fill out the forms now, particularly those working outside of New York, who may find it harder to access your employers later. However, you are not required to complete the forms now.
If you have any questions about whether a particular job qualifies as pro bono under the New York State rule, please consult their website and FAQs: http://www.nycourts.gov/attorneys/probono/baradmissionreqs.shtml. We at NYU do not have authority to tell you whether or not something qualifies as pro bono, but if the rule and FAQs leave ambiguity, please email David Glasgow, PILC Fellow, at david.glasgow@nyu.edu, and we will help you to work through the issue.
While you will be required to send the bar original affidavits, we have designed a system to help you track your hours for your personal use. On CSM, there is a shortcut called “Pro Bono Hours Tracking,” through which you can track your own hours and upload copies of any documents – including affidavits – that you would like to store in CSM. Instructions are available on the Public Interest Law Center website here: http://www.law.nyu.edu/publicinterestlawcenter/probono-nysrule.