New York Allows Out-of-State Lawyers to Help in Sandy

New York’s highest court has invoked a major disaster rule to allow lawyers from other states to practice in New York and help victims of Superstorm Sandy for free.

The court can allow the free legal work for victims with injuries and property losses and other legal concerns resulting from the storm.

The out-of-state lawyers will be permitted to work in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Staten Island and the counties of Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Queens, Suffolk, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester counties.

The court will end the temporary order when it decides the emergency conditions have ended.

Local bar associations and legal aid services should notify New York’s chief administrative judge, Gail Prudenti, if they plan to offer their free services. The order was announced last Wednesday, Nov. 14.