Your admission pro hac vice in the court of original instance will not work.

In the four departments of the Appellate Division, an out-of-state attorney may not argue an appeal or appear on a brief unless they make an application for pro hac vice (“PHV”) admission. PHV admission in the court of original instance is insufficient: a new PHV application must be made in the Appellate Division.

The applicable rule, 22 NYCRR 1250.4(e), requires the aspiring PHV attorney to file an affidavit stating that the applicant is a member in good standing in all the jurisdictions in which the applicant is admitted to practice, and that the applicant is associated with a member in good standing of the New York bar, which member shall be the attorney of record in the matter. The applicant must also attach to the affidavit an original certificate of good standing from the court or other body responsible for regulating admission to the practice of law in the state in which the applicant maintains their principal office for the practice of law.

In addition, the New York attorney of record must file an affirmation in support of the application. Although the rule is silent as to the contents of that affirmation, it should state that the New York attorney is in good standing, that the out-of-state attorney is in good standing in their home jurisdiction and good cause for granting PHV admission.

In appeals filed on NYSCEF, the affirmations should be electronically filed as one PDF on the Appellate Division’s NYSCEF docket. In appeals that are not on NYSCEF, the hardcopy affirmations should be filed simultaneously.

Although the format of the PHV submission is the same in the First, Second and Fourth Departments, the Appellate Division - Third Department requires the filing to be in the form of a motion.

Finally, in the New York Court of Appeals, admission PHV in the court of original instance or in the intermediate court is insufficient. A letter application must be filed with proof of service on all counsel, and it must include original certificates of good standing for each jurisdiction in which the applicant is admitted, in addition to all orders in the courts below granting PHV admission.

Any original certificate of good standing filed in the Appellate Division or Court of Appeals should be at most six months old.

Tagged: Appellate Practice, New York State Court of Appeals, New York State Appellate Division First Department, New York State Appellate Division Second Department, New York State Appellate Division Third Department