NYSBA - New York State Bar Association | Searching for NY Attorneys

About the NYSBA

Overview

Founded: November 21, 1876
Location: Albany, New York

Website: nysba.org
Members: 74,000 in 2015

Mission and History

The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) is a nonprofit professional association offering membership to attorneys on a voluntary basis. The organization seeks to elevate the standards of integrity in the legal profession while it cultivates the science of jurisprudence.

The NYSBA traces its roots back to November 21, 1876. By an act of the New York State Legislature, the NYSBA was incorporated on May 2, 1877.

Headquartered in Albany, New York, the NYSBA has grown to 74,000 members including more than 18,000 members residing outside of the state of New York.

Members of the NYSBA include lawyers in New York practicing in every area of the law including real property law, litigation, corporate law, trusts and estates law, business law, family law, immigration, and criminal defense. Members work as partners and associates, judges and academics, solo practitioners, and small and large firm practitioners.

Details

Videos
Past Presidents
Contact the NYSBA
More About the NYSBA
Benefits of Membership
Publications of the NYSBA
Law Sections of NYSBA
Search for an Attorney in New York by Specialty Practice Area
Additional Resources
Directory of Lawyers in New York

News

Videos

Miranda Warnings Podcast - New York Era Ballot Referendum

Virtual Tour: NYPL’s Equal Rights Amendment: A Century of Speaking Out

People

Past Presidents

Sharon Stern Gerstman
2017-2018
Buffalo, NY

Glenn Lau-kee
2014-2015
New York, NY

Vincent Edward Doyle III
2011-2012
Buffalo, NY

Stephen Peters Younger
2010-2011
New York, NY

Mark Howard Alcott
2006-2007
New York, NY

Alan Thomas Levin
2005-2006
Garden City South, NY

Thomas O Rice
1999-2000
Garden City, NY

John P Bracken
1992-1993
Islandia, NY

Contact the NYSBA

New York State Bar Association (NYSBA)

1 Elk Street

Albany, NY 12207

nysba.org

Office: (518) 463-3200

Online Profiles

More About the NYSBA

Benefits of Membership

For more than 140 years, the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) has shaped the development of law and responded to the demands of the legal profession. The benefits of membership include:

access members-only legal resources;
reduced rates and discounts on products and services for law offices;
access to continuing legal education (CLE) seminars and programs;
invitations to social events and networking opportunities;
leadership opportunities in sections.

Classes of membership in the NYSBA include:

Active
Associate
Affiliate
Honorary
Sustaining
Law Student

Officers in the NYSBA include:

the President
the President-Elect
one Vice-President for each judicial district
two Vice-Presidents for the First Judicial District
a Secretary

The House of Delegates can establish additional offices. To be nominated to become the president-elect, the candidate must be a member of the House of Delegates or have served as a member of the House of Delegates within five years before the nomination.

Publications of the NYSBA

The publications of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) include:

New York State Bar Association Journal
New York State Bar Association State Bar News
New York State Bar Association e-Newsletters (CasePrepPlus & NYSBA Weekly)
New York State Bar Association's Professional Services Guide

The Lawyer Referral Service makes referrals to attorneys in Upstate and Western New York through its hotline at 800-342-3661.

Law Sections of NYSBA

Members of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) are encouraged to join law sections and take on leadership positions within the organization.

NYSBA houses twenty-five (25) specialized substantive law sections as well as more than sixty (60) standing, special, and other committees including:

Young Lawyers Section
Women in Law Section
Trusts and Estates Law Section
Trial Lawyers Section
Torts, Insurance and Compensation Law Section
Tax Section
Senior Lawyers Section
Real Property Law Section
Local and State Government Law Section
Labor and Employment Law Section
Judicial Section
International Section
International Section
Intellectual Property Law Section
Health Law Section
General Practice Section
Food, Drug & Cosmetic Law Section
Family Law Section
Environmental & Energy Law Section
Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section
Elder Law and Special Needs Section
Dispute Resolution Section
Criminal Justice Section
Corporate Counsel Section
Commercial and Federal Litigation Section
Business Law Section
Antitrust Law Section

Search for an Attorney in New York by Specialty Practice Area

The NYSBA is not responsible for attorney licenses or registration. Instead, to verify an attorney's license status for practicing law in New York, you must use the "attorney search" feature on the New York State Unified Court System (USC) website.

In addition to the "NYS Bar Association Find a Lawyer" feature, you can search for an attorney at the NYS Office of Court Administration’s (OCA) website. To search the UCS database for an attorney in New York, you must enter the attorney's first or last name.

You can sort the search result by city, state, registration number, registration status or year admitted.

New York Attorneys listed in the USC database are listed by the name that corresponds to their name in the Appellate Division Admissions file. If you are unable to find the attorney's information using the database, then contact the Attorney Registration Unit of the NYS Office of Court Administration.

NY Code of Professional Responsibility

After adopting the Canons of Ethics in 1920, the rules for legal ethics became the Code of Professional Responsibility in 2001. The Code of Professional Responsibility adopted changes addressing multidisciplinary practice.

Effective April 1, 2009, the administrative committee of the New York courts adopted a modified version of the Model Rules.

The New York Code of Professional Responsibility sets the minimum standards that must be followed by attorneys when advertising their legal practice, communicating with the public, representing clients, or communicating with opposing counsel or the courts.

Additional Resources

Bar Associations in New York - Visit the website of the New York State Unified Court System to find a list of statewide bar associations, local associations, and court-sponsored volunteer lawyer programs.

Find an Attorney in New York - Visit the New York State Attorney General's website to find resources that help the public search for attorneys. The NY Attorney General does not represent the victims of crime and is not permitted to provide them with legal advice. The resources listed include The State Bar of New York, The National Crime Victim Bar, and the New York Courts.

Lawyer Referral Services in New York - The Lawyer Legion directory includes a list of lawyer referral services in the state of New York including the New York City Bar Legal Referral Service.

This article was last updated on Tuesday, March 30, 2021.

Directory of Lawyers in New York

Lawyer Legion maintains a national directory of attorneys in New York which includes both NYSBA members and non-members.

To help the public find the best choices when searching for an attorney in the State of New York, Lawyer Legion recognizes attorneys for their involvement and leadership within the NYSBA and other professional associations.

Our ranking system recognizes attorneys who are active on Lawyer Legion and have provided information about their involvement with the NYSBA and other non-profit legal organizations in the state of New York.

Use this directory to lookup an attorney in New York by name, location, or specialty practice area of the law. The Lawyer Legion directory can help you find out if an attorney is licensed in NY, verify their good standing to practice law in the state, learn more about their reputation in the legal community, and look up the lawyer's disciplinary history (if any).

Start by selecting the county below.

New York State Bar Association (NYSBA)