Three free, data-backed tools

NY Attorney Tools

Look up any attorney, estimate legal fees by practice area, and check discipline records, all drawing directly on the public New York Office of Court Administration registry.

429,620
Attorney records
284,296
Currently registered
24,037
Disciplinary records

What these tools answer

Three checks cover most attorney due diligence, is the lawyer active, what might they charge, and is there a discipline record on file, and all three are answerable here straight from the public New York register.

429,620
records the lookup searches by name or bar number
$50–$85/hr
typical NY hourly rates the estimator spans, by specialty
24,037
disciplinary records behind the checker

According to the New York Office of Court Administration, 429,620 attorney registrations were on file as of May 2026. Every tool reads from that public registry, see our methodology for how the data is sourced and refreshed.

Every tool reads from the public NY Office of Court Administration registry; fee context comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. See our methodology for sourcing, the data vintage in effect, and how each estimate is derived.

Choose a Tool

Attorney Lookup

Is this lawyer real, and are they active?

Search any of the 429,000+ NY-registered attorneys by name or bar registration number. See status, city, year admitted, and a direct link to the full profile.

429,620
searchable records
Open tool →

Fee Estimator

What might this matter cost per hour?

Get a data-driven hourly-rate range for 8 major practice areas by attorney experience level. Derived from BLS wage data - useful for budgeting before your first consultation.

$50–$85
typical hourly range
Open tool →

Discipline Checker

Is there a discipline record on file?

Check whether an attorney has a disbarment, suspension, or disciplinary record in the NY OCA dataset. Returns a clear "no record found" for the majority of attorneys who have a clean standing.

24,037
public discipline flags
Open tool →

What NY attorneys charge by practice area

Median hourly rate at a mid-size regional firm, BLS lawyer median ($71/hr) adjusted by specialty

/hr median

What this shows Business and employment specialties command the highest hourly rates; high-volume consumer practices like bankruptcy and immigration sit well below the bar-wide median. Try the Fee Estimator above for an experience-adjusted range.

Source U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, Lawyers (SOC 23-1011), 2024 + ABA fee-survey multipliers As of 2024

Up-front cost · flat fees

Typical flat fees for common matters

Many routine matters are billed as a single flat fee rather than by the hour. Each bar spans the typical low-to-high range a New York attorney quotes.

Uncontested divorce
$1.5k–$3.5k
Misdemeanor defense
$1.5k–$5k
Simple will / estate plan
$500–$1.5k
Contested divorce
$5k–$25k
Felony defense
$5k–$25k
Complex estate plan
$2k–$8k

Source: ABA / NY bar fee surveys, 2024. Ranges are typical quotes, not quotes from any specific attorney, confirm before engaging.

Which tool to start with

Pick by the question you're actually answering, identity, cost, or conduct.

  • Not sure a lawyer is who they claim? Confirm their bar registration and current status. Attorney lookup
  • Budgeting a matter? Get an experience-adjusted hourly range by practice area. Fee estimator
  • Worried about a record? Check for suspension, disbarment, or disciplinary resignation. Discipline checker

Every result reads from the public NY OCA register; fee ranges are BLS-derived estimates. Always confirm a specific attorney's current standing directly with the state bar.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are these tools free to use?

Yes. All three tools on this page are free and require no account. They draw on the public NY Office of Court Administration attorney-registration dataset, which PlainAttorney mirrors and refreshes each quarter.

How current is the data behind these tools?

The underlying dataset is refreshed quarterly from NY OCA via NY Open Data. The last refresh date is noted on each individual tool page. Status changes at the bar may take weeks to appear in any third-party mirror, including this one - always confirm critical standing decisions directly with the NY State Bar.

Can I use these tools to hire an attorney?

These tools are for informational reference only. PlainAttorney does not provide legal advice, does not rank or endorse any attorney, and does not accept paid placement. Use this data as a starting point for due diligence, then engage legal counsel directly for advice specific to your situation.

Explore More

Rankings Discipline New York Guides Attorney Fees Research

PlainAttorney is rendered directly from the New York Office of Court Administration's public attorney registry, the Attorney Lookup and Discipline Checker query that registry live and no figure there is typed in by an editor; the fee chart and flat-fee ranges below come from a BLS/ABA-informed reference table with editorially curated specialty multipliers, not a live per-query database. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 2026.