(a) Admission. A member in good standing of the courts of the State of New York
or of the bar of any United States District Court, or of the highest court in the state in which they
reside, whose professional character is good, may be admitted to practice in this Court upon
submission of the required documentation in compliance with the requirements of this Rule.
Admission forms are available from the Court’s webpage at www.nynd.uscourts.gov.
Each applicant for admission must electronically file in PACER (https://www.pacer.gov/)
the documentation required for admission including the following:
1. A petition for admission stating the following:
• place of residence and office address;
• the date(s) when and court(s) where previously admitted;
• whether the applicant has ever
o been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor;
o been held in contempt of court, disbarred, suspended, censured,
sanctioned, or otherwise disciplined by any Federal, State or Local
Court or attorney disciplinary authority; and/or
o resigned from the bar of any jurisdiction while a professional
misconduct investigation was pending;
and if so, the facts and circumstances connected therewith; and
• that the applicant is familiar with the provisions of the Judicial Code (Title
28 U.S.C.), which pertain to the jurisdiction of, and practice in, the United
States District Courts; the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the
Federal Rules of Evidence for the District Courts; the Federal Rules of
Criminal Procedure for the District Courts; the Local Rules of the District
Court for the Northern District of New York; the New York Rules of
Professional Conduct, and the NYS Standards of Civility. The applicant
shall further affirm faithful adherence to these Rules and responsibilities.
The applicant is not required to notarize the petition if it is executed in
accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 1746.
2. Attorney E-Filing Registration Form. The E-Filing Registration Form must
be in the form the Clerk prescribes, setting forth the full name of the attorney,
indicating the appropriate method of admission sought, and a fully executed
Oath on Admission.
3. Certificate of Good Standing. Court-issued certificate of good standing as
required by subdivision (b) below must be dated within six (6) months of the
date of the application for admission.
If the applicant is admitted to practice in New York State, the Certificate of
Good Standing submitted with the application for admission must be from the
appropriate New York State Appellate Division.
If the applicant is from outside New York State, the Certificate of Good
Standing may be from the highest court of the state or from a United States
District Court.
4. The Required Fee. As prescribed by and pursuant to the Judicial Conference
of the United States and the Local Rules of this Court, the fee for admission to
the bar is $249.00. The admission fee is payable upon acceptance of a
complete application received by the Court from an attorney’s individual
PACER account. This fee includes the fee set by the Judicial Conference of
$199.00 plus an additional fee set by the Court of $50.00 unless the Chief
Judge waives such additional fee upon a showing of good cause. The
admission fees are waived for all attorneys in the full-time employ of the
United States Government.
(b) Pro Hac Vice Admission. A member in good standing of the courts of the State
of New York, or of the bar of any United States District Court, or of the highest court in the state
in which they reside, whose professional character is good, may be admitted pro hac vice to
argue or try a particular case in whole or in part. In addition to the documents required by
L.R. 83.1(a)(1), (2), (3), and (4), each applicant for pro hac vice admission must electronically
file, via MFT on the Court’s website, a Motion for Limited Admission pro hac vice, which
includes the case caption of the particular case for which the applicant seeks admission. See
L.R. 10.1(c). Admission forms and a form Motion for pro hac vice admission can be found on
the Court’s website at www.nynd.uscourts.gov. Upon receipt of an Order granting the motion
for limited admission, the attorney seeking pro hac vice admission must immediately submit a
pro hac vice E-File Registration request in PACER (https://www.pacer.gov/) for filing access to
the Court.
The pro hac vice admission fee is $100.00 and is payable upon acceptance of a complete
application received by the Court via MFT. The Clerk deposits all pro hac vice admission fees
into the District Court Fund. See L.R. 83.1(a)(4). An attorney admitted pro hac vice must file a
written notice of appearance in the case for which the attorney was admitted in accordance with
L.R. 11.1.
In lieu of a written motion for admission, an attorney may make an oral motion in open
court on the record. Following the proceeding, the attorney seeking pro hac vice admission must
file all of the required documents referenced above in CM/ECF in the particular case for which
the applicant seeks admission, including payment of the filing fee via Pay.gov, within seven (7)
days of the date of oral admission.
(c) Admission of United States Attorneys Admitted in Other Federal Districts.
An attorney admitted to practice before any United States District Court who is appointed as a
United States Attorney, an Assistant United States Attorney, or as a Special Assistant United
States Attorney under 28 U.S.C. §§ 541–543, shall be admitted to practice in this Court upon
satisfaction of the requirements of L.R. 83.1(a)(1), (2) and (3).
All other attorneys in the employ of the United States Government seeking
admission to practice in this Court, including those appointed under 28 U.S.C. §§ 541–543 who
are not admitted to practice before any United States District Court, must comply with the
requirements for admission or pro hac vice admission described in subsections (a)–(d) above.
(d) Changes to the Bar Record. Every attorney must update the information
contained in their bar record within 14 days of a change. Attorneys shall update their information
in PACER (https://pacer.uscourts.gov/). Updates to an attorney’s bar record are received by the
Court via the attorney’s PACER account which may take up to 24 hours to process. Detailed
instructions to update a bar record are available on the Court's website, www.nynd.uscourts.gov.
Failure to keep this information current will result in removal from the roll of the Court.
(e) Pro Bono Service. Every member of the bar of the Northern District of New
York shall be required upon the Court’s request for appointment to represent or assist in the
representation of indigent parties. The Court shall make appointments under this Rule in a
manner such that the Court shall not request any attorney to accept more than one appointment
during any twelve-month period. Attorneys employed by Federal, State, Municipal Governments
or not-for-profit organizations are exempt from this pro bono requirement.
(f) Conviction or Disciplinary Action in any Jurisdiction. An attorney admitted
pursuant to this section who thereafter (1) is convicted of a felony or misdemeanor; (2) is held in
contempt of court, disbarred, suspended, censured, sanctioned, or otherwise disciplined by any
Federal, State or Local Court or attorney disciplinary authority; or (3) resigns from the bar of any
jurisdiction while a professional misconduct investigation is pending, shall provide notice to this
Court of such occurrence(s) and shall disclose the relevant circumstances in writing within 14
days thereof. Failure to provide such notice may result in removal from the roll of the Court. In
response to such notice, the Court may take further action in accordance with Local Rule 83.3,
including, where the Chief Judge determines good cause exists, provisional suspension from the
bar of the Northern District of New York pending further investigation or proceedings.
(g) Biennial Registration. Every member of the bar of the Northern District of New
York shall submit an application for biennial registration pursuant to notice from the Clerk of
Court. A $50.00 biennial registration fee will be required unless the Board of Judges directs
otherwise. Should the payment of this biennial fee present a significant financial hardship, an
attorney may request, by submitting an application to the Chief Judge, that the biennial
registration fee be waived. The biennial registration fee is waived for all attorneys employed
full-time by federal, state and local public sector entities.
1. Failure to comply with the biennial registration and remit the biennial fee, unless
waived, will result in the automatic removal of the attorney from the Court’s bar roll.
Unless excused by the Chief Judge to gain readmittance to the Northern District of
New York Bar, attorneys removed from the bar for failure to comply with the
biennial registration must satisfy all of the admission requirements set forth in Local
Rule 83.1(a).
2. The Clerk shall deposit the additional $50.00 fee required for admission to the bar
and the $50.00 biennial registration fee into the District Court Fund. The Clerk shall
be the trustee of the Fund, and the monies deposited in the Fund shall be used only for
the benefit of the bench and bar in the administration of justice. All withdrawals from
the Fund require the approval of the Chief Judge or a judge designated by the Chief
Judge to authorize the withdrawals.
3. In the application for biennial registration, the member must certify whether or not,
within the time period since his/her admission to this bar or most recent biennial
registration, he/she (1) has been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor; (2) has been
held in contempt of court, disbarred, suspended, censured, sanctioned, or otherwise
disciplined by any Federal, State or Local Court or attorney disciplinary authority;
and (3) has resigned from the bar of any jurisdiction while a professional misconduct
investigation was pending. Where the member provides notice of such occurrence,
he/she shall also disclose the relevant circumstances in writing. Failure to provide
notice of such an occurrence may result in removal from the roll of the Court. In
response to such notice, the Court may take further action in accordance with Local
Rule 83.3, including, where the Chief Judge determines good cause exists,
provisional denial of the application for biennial registration pending further
investigation or proceedings.
(h) Public Availability of Admissions Materials. The Clerk’s Office shall make all
admissions materials available upon written request, except that the Clerk may redact any non-
public personal identifiers described in L.R. 5.2.
