Senate Bill S10367

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   10367
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 15, 2026
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sen. SEPULVEDA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend  the  judiciary  law and the general business law, in
   relation to the unlawful practice of law
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. Section 476-a of the judiciary law, as added by chapter 310
 of the laws of 1962, subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 709 of the laws
 of  1965,  the  opening  paragraph of subdivision 1 and subdivision 2 as
 amended by chapter 91 of the  laws  of  2010,  is  amended  to  read  as
 follows:
   §  476-a.  Action  for unlawful practice of the law. 1.  The attorney-
 general may maintain an action upon [his or her] THE  ATTORNEY-GENERAL'S
 own  information  or  upon the complaint of a private person or of a bar
 association organized and existing under the laws of this state  against
 any  person, partnership, corporation, or association, and any employee,
 agent, director, or officer thereof who commits any act  or  engages  in
 any  conduct  prohibited by law as constituting the unlawful practice of
 the law. The  term  "action"  as  used  in  this  subdivision  shall  be
 construed to include both civil actions and criminal actions.
   2.  The  term  "unlawful  practice of the law" as used in this article
 shall include, but is not limited to,
   (a) any act prohibited  by  [penal  law  sections  two]  SECTION  FOUR
 hundred  [seventy]  SEVENTY-EIGHT, [two] FOUR hundred [seventy-a] SEVEN-
 TY-NINE, [two] FOUR hundred [seventy-e] EIGHTY-THREE, [two] FOUR hundred
 [seventy-one]   EIGHTY-FOUR,   [two]   FOUR    hundred    [seventy-five]
 EIGHTY-NINE,  [two]  FOUR  hundred  [seventy-five-a]  NINETY, [two] FOUR
 hundred [seventy-six] NINETY-ONE, [two  hundred  eighty]  or  [fourteen]
 FOUR  hundred  [fifty-two] NINETY-FIVE OF THIS ARTICLE, OR SECTION THREE
 HUNDRED THIRTY-SEVEN OF THE GENERAL BUSINESS LAW, or
   (b) any other act forbidden by law to be done by any person not  regu-
 larly licensed and admitted to practice law in this state, or
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD15885-01-6
 S. 10367                            2
              

 
   (c)  any act punishable by the supreme court as a criminal contempt of
 court under SUBDIVISION B OF section seven hundred  [fifty-B]  FIFTY  of
 this chapter.
   [2.]  3.  Such  a civil action may also be maintained by a bar associ-
 ation organized and existing under the laws of the state  of  New  York,
 upon  an application to the supreme court of the state of New York, or a
 justice thereof, for leave to bring the same by such bar association  on
 good cause shown therefor and proof that a written request was made upon
 the  attorney-general  to bring such an action and that more than twenty
 days have elapsed since the making of such request and [he or  she]  THE
 ATTORNEY-GENERAL has failed or refused to bring such an action.
   §  2. Section 496 of the judiciary law, as added by chapter 706 of the
 law of 1979, is amended to read as follows:
   § 496. STATEMENT TO BE FILED BY ORGANIZATIONS OFFERING LEGAL SERVICES.
 An organization described in subdivision seven of section  four  hundred
 ninety-five  of  this  article  shall  file  with the appellate division
 department in which its principal office is located a statement describ-
 ing the nature and purposes of the organization, the composition of  its
 governing body, the type of legal services being made available, and the
 names  and  addresses of any attorneys and counselors-at-law employed by
 the organization or with whom commitments have been made. An updating of
 this information shall be furnished the appropriate  appellate  division
 on  or  before  July  first  of each year and the names and addresses of
 attorneys and counselors-at-law who rendered legal services during  that
 year shall be included.
   §  3.  Section  336-b of the general business law, as added by chapter
 495 of the laws of 1991, is renumbered section 336-c.
   § 4. Section 337 of the general business law, as added by chapter 1031
 of the laws of 1965, is amended to read as follows.
   § 337. Advertising to procure  divorces.  Whoever  prints,  publishes,
 distributes  or circulates, or causes to be printed, published, distrib-
 uted or circulated any circular, pamphlet, card, hand  bill,  advertise-
 ment,  printed  paper, book, newspaper or notice of any kind offering to
 advise on laws of any foreign state,  nation  or  jurisdiction  for  the
 express  purpose of procuring or aiding in procuring any divorce, sever-
 ance, dissolution, or annulment [or] OF any  marriage,  or  offering  to
 procure  or  to  aid in procuring any divorce, or the severance, dissol-
 ution, or annulment of any marriage, or offering to  engage,  appear  or
 act  as  attorney  or  counsel in any suit for alimony or divorce or the
 severance, dissolution or annulment of  any  marriage,  either  in  this
 state  or  elsewhere, is guilty of a misdemeanor. This section shall not
 apply to the printing or  publishing  of  any  notice  or  advertisement
 required or authorized by any law of this state.
   §  5. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.