How to check a New York lawyer
Find the record, read the status, confirm it with the court system
- On the register
- 433,923
- Currently registered
- 286,911
- File of
- Sep 29, 2026
Every lawyer admitted in New York must register with the court system, which lists them on its attorney register: 433,923 registrations on the file of Sep 29, 2026, 286,911 of them currently registered. Checking a lawyer takes four steps: find the record, read what its status means, confirm it with the court system, and look for discipline.
Checked against the rules and sources it cites on Sep 29, 2026 by PlainAttorney’s data editor; register figures from the file of Sep 29, 2026. Not legal advice.
1. Find the lawyer’s record
Search the register by surname, by first name and surname, or by the seven-digit registration number. The register lists attorneys under the name they registered with, which can differ from the name they use now.
Two people can share a name. Before relying on a record, match the registration number, the year of admission, the employer and the office’s city with what the lawyer gave you.
Source: NY Office of Court Administration, attorney registration file (data.ny.gov, dataset eqw2-r5nb), downloaded Sep 29, 2026.
2. Read what the status means
Each record carries one of the register’s values. Currently registered means the lawyer has filed the biennial registration the court system requires. Due to re‑register means the next biennial registration is due, or overdue if its month has passed; by itself it is not a finding. Delinquent means a registration the register shows as due has not been filed. Suspended, resigned and disbarred values are recorded as the Appellate Division ordered them.
Source: NY Office of Court Administration, attorney registration file (data.ny.gov, dataset eqw2-r5nb); 22 NYCRR 118.1.
3. Confirm it with the court system
PlainAttorney shows the register as the court system releases it and is not the court. The court system’s own online Attorney Search, reached from its attorney pages, shows the live record and can be newer than the file here. For an official statement of a lawyer’s standing, contact the Attorney Registration Unit of the NY Office of Court Administration (nycourts.gov/attorneys), or the Appellate Division in the lawyer’s department of admission.
4. Look for discipline
A disbarment, a suspension or a resignation for a disciplinary reason shows in the record’s status. The register gives no reason or date, and it does not show a public censure, a grievance committee’s Admonition or a suspension that has ended. The Appellate Division’s decisions do: they are published in the New York Official Reports, online through the court system’s Law Reporting Bureau, searchable by the lawyer’s name. If you need to complain about a lawyer, the grievance committee of the department covering the lawyer’s registration address handles it.
Before you hire: the letter of engagement
An attorney who undertakes to represent a client and enters into an arrangement for, charges or collects any fee from a client shall provide to the client a written letter of engagement before commencing the representation …22 NYCRR 1215.1(a), as published by the Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
Ask for it in writing before the work starts: it sets out the scope, the fee, expenses and billing.
Source: 22 NYCRR 1215.1, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School.
If the lawyer is admitted in another state
New York’s register lists only lawyers admitted in New York. A lawyer admitted elsewhere is on that state’s register.