{"id":9130,"date":"2017-07-11T16:03:43","date_gmt":"2017-07-11T20:03:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/?page_id=3255"},"modified":"2026-08-31T18:39:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T18:39:55","slug":"new-york-bar-pro-bono-admission-requirement","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/experiential-learning\/pro-bono-community-service\/new-york-bar-pro-bono-admission-requirement\/","title":{"rendered":"New York Bar Pro Bono Admission Requirement"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Rule Overview:<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Under\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nycourts.gov\/ctapps\/520rules10.htm#B16\"><b>the New York Rule<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, pro bono is broadly defined, though the work must be law-related in nature and supervised by a licensed attorney or faculty member. Examples of qualifying activities include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Law-school sponsored clinics that provide legal assistance to those who cannot afford representation;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Externships or internships (even if funded or performed for academic credit) for a nonprofit provider of legal services, legal aid office, judge or court system, Public Defender, U.S. Attorney, District Attorney, State Attorney General, or other federal, state or local government agency or legislative body;<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Private sector pro bono work;<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Law school sponsored projects or programs that serve\u00a0disadvantaged people or issues\u00a0(provided the work is law-related and supervised in accordance with the pro bono requirement);<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Law-related work in connection with a faculty or instructor\u2019s pro bono work.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">*The NY definition differs from Georgetown Law\u2019s Pro Bono Pledge version in some significant ways. See the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/experiential-learning\/pro-bono-community-service\/pro-bono-pledge\/pledge-faqs\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pledge FAQs<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for reference.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">You should refer to the text of the rule or the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nycourts.gov\/pro-bono-service\/50-hour-pro-bono-bar-admission-requirements\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">NY Frequently Asked Questions<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to determine whether a particular activity qualifies. You can also email questions to the New York Advisory Committee at\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"mailto:ProBonoRule@nycourts.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"cx_external_link\"><span class=\"cx_external_hyperlink\"><b>ProBonoRule@nycourts.gov<\/b><\/span><span class=\"visually_hide\">(This link opens in a new tab)<\/span><span class=\"cx_external_icon\"><\/span><\/a> (note: this link opens in a new tab).<\/p>\n<h2>Documentation:<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Applicants must file an\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nycourts.gov\/pro-bono-service\/50-hour-pro-bono-bar-admission-requirements\"><b>Affidavit of Compliance<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0for each pro bono activity used to satisfy the 50-hour requirement. Each Affidavit must be certified and signed by the appropriate supervising attorney or faculty member. OPICS strongly recommends that Affidavits be executed as soon as work on a project is completed rather than waiting until you\u2019ve graduated, passed the bar, and are preparing your application for admission.\u00a0Also note that you should complete the Affidavit in the order presented: (1) You complete page 1; (2) have page 2 notarized; and (3) provide your attorney supervisor with all 3 pages so they can complete page 3.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">OPICS, the Externship Program Office, and the Office of the Registrar will not sign Affidavits of Compliance \u2013 that should be done by a supervising attorney or faculty member who can attest to your work on the project.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>FAQs:<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Review the NY\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nycourts.gov\/attorneys\/probono\/baradmissionreqs.shtml\"><b>Frequently Asked Questions<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0for more guidance on what types of work satisfy the requirement and how to properly execute the Affidavit of Compliance.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Georgetown-specific FAQs:<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you have specific questions about the New York Bar Pro Bono Requirement, we encourage you to contact the New York State Unified Court System directly. For Georgetown-specific questions, contact the Georgetown Law Pro Bono Director.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Additionally, we have pasted below the answers to some questions frequently raised by Georgetown students.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Can hours from the Georgetown Law Pro Bono Pledge also be used toward the requirement?<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It depends \u2013 hours of law-related pro bono work used to complete the Pro Bono Pledge can also be used toward satisfying the New York pro bono requirement, provided they meet the definition of pro bono in the rule. Additionally, all hours that you plan to use to fulfill the New York requirement must be verified with an Affidavit of Compliance.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>When should I complete an Affidavit of Compliance?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Our strong recommendation is that you execute an Affidavit immediately upon the completion of a qualifying project. That way, you won\u2019t risk being unable to track down a supervisor years later. You should make a digital copy and store both the original and copy in a safe place until you apply for admission. All NY Departments currently accept electronic, digital, or scanned signatures by supervisors on the pro bono affidavits.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>On the Affidavit of Compliance, does my supervisor\u2019s signature need to be notarized?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">No. The applicant must provide the information requested on page one of the form and then have page two notarized.\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">After<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0the form is notarized, the applicant shares all three pages with their supervising attorney for completion of page three. The Certification does not have to be separately notarized.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>When do I submit my Affidavit(s) of Compliance?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">You should retain your original hard copy Affidavit(s) until you submit your admission application packet to the Appellate Division.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rule Overview: Under\u00a0the New York Rule, pro bono is broadly defined, though the work must be law-related in nature and supervised by a licensed attorney or faculty member. Examples of qualifying activities include: Law-school sponsored clinics that provide legal assistance to those who cannot afford representation; Externships or internships (even if funded or performed for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"parent":8648,"menu_order":9,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-9130","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/experiential-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/experiential-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/experiential-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/experiential-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/experiential-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9130"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/experiential-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32075,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/experiential-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9130\/revisions\/32075"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/experiential-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/experiential-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}