NY State Senate Bill 2019-S6831

Senate Bill S6831

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Relates to making technical corrections to ensure gender neutrality for the admission to practice law and preventing any required disclosure of mental health history

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Dec 28, 2020	committed to rules
Feb 13, 2020	advanced to third reading
Feb 12, 2020	2nd report cal.
Feb 11, 2020	1st report cal.405
Jan 08, 2020	referred to judiciary
Nov 04, 2019	referred to rules

Votes

- Feb 11, 2020 - Judiciary Committee Vote
  S6831
  
  12
  
  Aye
  
  1
  
  Nay
  
  2
  
  Aye with Reservations
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Judiciary Committee Vote: Feb 11, 2020
      
      aye (12)
      
      Bailey
      
      Boyle
      
      Breslin
      
      Gounardes
      
      Hoylman-Sigal
      
      Kaplan
      
      Myrie
      
      Ranzenhofer
      
      Savino
      
      Sepúlveda
      
      Stavisky
      
      Thomas
      
      nay (1)
      
      O'Mara
      
      aye wr (2)
      
      LaValle
      
      Lanza

2019-S6831 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A8820
Current Committee:: Senate Rules
Law Section:: Civil Practice Law and Rules
Laws Affected:: Amd RR9401, 9403, 9404, 9405 & 9406, CPLR
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2021-2022: S439, A1911
2023-2024: A1742

2019-S6831 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to making technical corrections to ensure gender neutrality for the admission to practice law and preventing the character fitness questionnaire from inquiring into an applicant's mental health history.

2019-S6831 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S6831

SPONSOR: HOYLMAN
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to making
technical corrections to ensure gender neutrality for the admission to
practice law and preventing any required disclosure of mental health
history

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Sections 1 through 5 of the bill amend various rules in Article 94 of
the Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR) to ensure gender neutrality in
the terms used throughout the Article.

Section 3 of the bill also amends Rule 9404 of the CPLR to establish
that questionnaires used for the purpose of screening the character and
fitness of applicants seeking to practice law in New York State cannot
include any questions that require the disclosure of the applicant's
history, diagnoses, or treatment of mental health conditions or impair-
ment, substance abuse, or addiction.

Section 6 of the bill is the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In August 2019, the New York State Bar Association's Working Group on
Attorney Mental Health released a report entitled "The Impact, Legality,
Use and Utility of Mental Disability Questions on the New York State Bar
Application."

Per current practice, the four Departments of the Appellate Division of
the New York Supreme Court use questionnaires to screen the character
and fitness of applicants seeking to practice law in New York State.
Question 34 of the application for admission to practice as an attorney
and counselor-at-law in the State of New York asks applicants if they
"currently have any condition or impairment including, but not limited a
mental, emotional, psychiatric, nervous or behavioral disorder or condi-
tion, or an alcohol, drug or other substance abuse condition or impair-
ment or gambling addiction, which in any way impairs or limits" their
ability to practice law, and requires applicants to elaborate if they
answer in the affirmative.

The report analyzes the impact of Question 34 on law students, finding
that nearly half of the participants in a 2018 American Bar Association
survey of law students "believed it would be better if mental health
obstacles remained private, noting a fear of delayed admission to the
bar," and that inquiries like Question 34 may have the unintended effect
of discouraging law students from seeking professional diagnoses or
treatment when they need it most. The report also casts significant
doubt on the legality of Question 34, finding that it likely violates
the federal Americans With Disabilities Act.

The Working Group's report concludes that "Question 34 is not an effec-
tive mechanism for detecting and excluding from the New York State bar
applicants who ability to practice law is impaired by a mental health
condition," due to the fact that the question does not "reliably,
uniformly, fairly and consistently identify applicants who suffer from a
disqualifying mental health condition and prevent their admission."
Thus, the Working Group on Attorney Mental Health recommends that
"mental health inquiries should be eliminated from the application for
admission to the Bar of New York State."

Consistent with the findings of NYSBA's report, this bill would prohibit
bar admission questionnaires from including questions that require the
disclosure of the applicant's history, diagnoses, or treatment of mental
health conditions or impairment, substance abuse, or conditions. Such a
prohibition would also be consistent with an American Bar Association
resolution adopted in 2015 urging state and territorial bar licensing
entities to eliminate such questions and instead use questions that
"focus on conduct or behavior that impairs an applicant's ability to
practice law in a competent, ethical and professional manner."

The bill would still allow questions that require applicants to disclose
prior conduct that may be relevant to the applicant's character and
fitness, and the bill would not prohibit a voluntary disclosure by the
applicant of any information that may be helpful in demonstrating that
the applicant is of good moral character or as a mitigating factor to
explain prior misconduct.

If adopted, New York would join Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecti-
cut, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and Wash-
ington, all of which do not currently have questions on their bar admis-
sion applications that ask about a mental health diagnosis or
impairment.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:  New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:  To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:  This act shall take effect in sixty days.

2019-S6831 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6831
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             November 4, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. HOYLMAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
 
 AN ACT to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to  making
   technical corrections to ensure gender neutrality for the admission to
   practice  law  and preventing any required disclosure of mental health
   history

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Rule 9401 of the civil practice law and rules is amended to
 read as follows:
   Rule 9401. Committee.  The appellate division in each judicial depart-
 ment shall appoint a committee of not less than three practicing lawyers
 for  each  judicial  district  within the department, for the purpose of
 investigating the character and fitness of every applicant for admission
 to practice as an attorney and counselor at law in the  courts  of  this
 state.  Each  member  of  such  committee  shall  serve  until [his] THE
 MEMBER'S death, resignation or the appointment  of  [his]  THE  MEMBER'S
 successor.  A  lawyer who has been or who shall be appointed a member of
 the committee for one district may be appointed a member of the  commit-
 tee for another district within the same department.
   § 2. The opening paragraph and subdivision 1 of rule 9403 of the civil
 practice  law  and rules, as amended by chapter 226 of the laws of 1985,
 are amended to read as follows:
   Notwithstanding rule 9402, any application for admission  to  practice
 pending before a committee, may be referred to the committee for another
 judicial  district  in the same or another department by order or direc-
 tion of the presiding justice of the appellate division of  the  depart-
 ment  embracing  the  district in which the application is pending. Such
 order or direction may be made only upon  the  written  request  of  the
 [chairman] CHAIRPERSON or acting [chairman] CHAIRPERSON of the committee

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD14041-05-9

 S. 6831                             2
 
 before  which  the application is pending and only upon [his] THE CHAIR-
 PERSON OR ACTING CHAIRPERSON'S written certification either:
   1.  that  the applicant, since [he] THEY applied to take the bar exam-
 ination or to dispense with such examination or since [he] THEY  applied
 on  motion  to  be  admitted to practice, has changed [his] THEIR actual
 residence to such other judicial district in the same or  other  depart-
 ment, or, if not a resident of the state, has acquired full-time employ-
 ment  in  or  changed  [his] THEIR place of full-time employment to such
 other judicial district in the same or other department; or
   § 3. Rule 9404 of the civil practice law  and  rules,  as  amended  by
 judicial  conference  proposal number 7 for the year 1973, is amended to
 read as follows:
   Rule 9404. Certificate of character and  fitness.    Unless  otherwise
 ordered  by the appellate division, no person shall be admitted to prac-
 tice without a certificate from the proper committee that it  has  care-
 fully  investigated the character and fitness of the applicant and that,
 in such respects, [he] THE APPLICANT is entitled to admission. To enable
 the committee to make such investigation, the justices of the  appellate
 division  are  authorized  to prescribe and from time to time to amend a
 form of statement or questionnaire to be  submitted  by  the  applicant,
 including specifically [his] THE APPLICANT'S present and such past plac-
 es  of  actual  residence as may be required therein, listing the street
 and number, if any, and the period of time [he] THE APPLICANT resided at
 each place. SUCH QUESTIONNAIRE SHALL NOT INCLUDE ANY QUESTIONS REQUIRING
 THE DISCLOSURE OF THE APPLICANT'S HISTORY,  DIAGNOSES  OR  TREATMENT  OF
 MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS OR IMPAIRMENT, SUBSTANCE ABUSE OR ADDICTION.
   §  4. Rule 9405 of the civil practice law and rules is amended to read
 as follows:
   Rule 9405. Prior application.   In the event that  any  applicant  has
 made  a  prior application for admission to practice in this state or in
 any other jurisdiction, then upon said statement or questionnaire or  in
 an  accompanying signed statement, [he] THE APPLICANT shall set forth in
 detail all the facts with respect to  such  prior  application  and  its
 disposition.  If  such prior application had been filed in any appellate
 division of this state and if the applicant failed to obtain  a  certif-
 icate  of  good  character  and  fitness  from the appropriate character
 committee or if for any reason such prior application was disapproved or
 rejected either by said committee or said appellate division,  [he]  THE
 APPLICANT  shall obtain and submit the written consent of said appellate
 division to the renewal of [his] THEIR  application  in  that  appellate
 division or in any other appellate division.
   §  5.  Rule  9406  of  the civil practice law and rules, as amended by
 chapter 226 of the laws of 1985, is amended to read as follows:
   Rule 9406. Proof.  No person shall receive said certificate  from  any
 committee and no person shall be admitted to practice as an attorney and
 counselor  at  law  in  the courts of this state, unless [he] THEY shall
 furnish satisfactory proof to the effect:
   1. that [he supports] THEY SUPPORT the  constitutions  of  the  United
 States and of the state of New York; and
   2.  that  [he has] THEY HAVE complied with all the requirements of the
 applicable statutes of this state, the applicable rules of the court  of
 appeals  and  the  applicable  rules  of the appellate division in which
 [his] THEIR application is pending, relating to the admission  to  prac-
 tice as an attorney and counselor at law.
   §  6.  This  act  shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
 have become a law.

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