ALBANY – The client disclosure provisions in New York state’s new ethics law, which has been widely heralded as a revolutionary step toward restoring public confidence in government, are nowhere near as encompassing as those in California and Washington, the two states that began requiring attorneys in public service to reveal clients more than 30 years ago.
The New York measure, A8301/S05679, which was signed into law late Monday by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, requires lawyers serving in the Legislature, but not other elected officials, to disclose clients who have business with the state and have paid a legal fee of $10,000 or more in the course of a year.
