NY Lawyers Must Have In-State Office

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a 154-year old requirement that lawyers practicing in the state of New York who are not residents must keep an office in the state. The ruling overturns a lower court finding that the residency requirement was unconstitutional under the privileges and immunities cause. “The fact that a nonresident attorney will have to establish that presence by leasing an office, while a resident attorney can have his home, does not unduly burden the nonresident,” the court wrote. But Judge Peter Hall dissented, saying the requirement is discriminatory and burdens non-residents.