The New York Court of Appeals has amended the supervision requirement for the 50-hour pro bono rule. Until recently, in order to qualify under the rule, attorneys supervising pro bono work had to be admitted to practice “in the jurisdiction where the work is performed.” This meant that certain types of pro bono work were automatically disqualified, such as:
- Work for an international organization in, e.g., Geneva or The Hague, if the supervising attorney was not admitted to the Bar in that location;
- Work for a government agency in Washington D.C. with a supervisor who is admitted to the Bar in Virginia or Maryland, but not the District of Columbia;
- Remote work performed in New York for an organization based in California, where the supervisor is admitted only in California;
- Work for a law firm’s overseas branch office, supervised by a U.S. attorney.
The rule has now been amended to require only that the supervisor be admitted in “a” jurisdiction, provided that the supervisory work does not violate any statute, regulation or code regarding the unauthorized practice of law. In other words, as long as the supervisor is authorized under relevant practice rules to supervise you in that jurisdiction, it should no longer matter whether the supervisor is admitted to practice in the location where you physically perform the pro bono work. See here for the relevant change:http://www.nycourts.gov/ctapps/news/nottobar/nottobar082815.pdfIf you have any questions about this amendment and how it may affect your pro bono work, please contact David Glasgow at david.glasgow@nyu.edu.