The New York Court of Appeals has ruled that a New York City ordinance regulating lawyers who serve as general debt collectors does not intrude upon the state's authority to regulate attorney conduct and the practice of law.
The Court of Appeals, New York's highest court, issued its decision June 30 in Berman v. City of New York (PDF). In a 4-2 decision, the court determined that the law was not pre-empted by state laws regulating attorneys. "There is no express conflict between the broad authority accorded to the courts to regulate attorneys under the judiciary law and the licensing of individuals as attorneys who are engaged in debt-collection activity falling outside of the practice of law and, thus, the local law does not impose an additional requirement for attorneys to practice law. Rather, the regulatory schemes can be seen as complementary to, and compatible with, one another."
Dec 1, 2015 3:00 AM CST
