By Steve Levine · Updated July 13, 2026 · 8 min read
Quick Answer
The New York Rules of Professional Conduct are the ethics rules that govern every lawyer licensed in New York. They were adopted by the Appellate Divisions of the New York State Supreme Court effective April 1, 2009, and are published as Part 1200 of the Joint Rules of the Appellate Division — commonly cited as 22 NYCRR Part 1200. They replaced New York's older Code of Professional Responsibility and are modeled on the ABA Model Rules, so they use the familiar 1.x–8.x numbering. The rules cover competence, fees, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, advertising and solicitation, safekeeping of client money, and a lawyer's duties to courts and the public — and they're enforced through attorney discipline by each Appellate Division department, not by clients suing directly.
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The New York Rules of Professional Conduct are the ethics code for lawyers admitted to practice in New York. They were adopted by the four Appellate Division departments of the New York State Supreme Court and took effect on April 1, 2009, replacing the state's former Code of Professional Responsibility. The rules are published as Part 1200 of the Joint Rules of the Appellate Division, which is why lawyers cite them as "22 NYCRR Part 1200."
The rules are modeled on the American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct, so they share the same structure and numbering that most other states use. One New York wrinkle: the Appellate Divisions adopted only the black-letter Rules themselves. The Preamble, Scope, and explanatory Comments are published separately by the New York State Bar Association as guidance for attorneys — helpful for interpretation, but where a Comment conflicts with a Rule, the Rule controls.
Following the ABA framework, the rules are grouped into eight numbered families:
• Rule 1.x — The Client-Lawyer Relationship. The core duties a lawyer owes a client: competence (1.1), diligence, reasonable fees (1.5), confidentiality (1.6), the conflict-of-interest rules (1.7–1.10), and safekeeping of client property and settlement money (1.15).
• Rule 2.x — Counselor. The lawyer's role as advisor and, occasionally, evaluator.
• Rule 3.x — Advocate. Duties to the court and opposing parties — candor, no frivolous claims, fairness in litigation.
• Rule 4.x — Transactions With Persons Other Than Clients. How a lawyer must deal with non-clients, including the no-contact rule (4.2) that bars contacting someone the lawyer knows is represented by other counsel.
• Rule 5.x — Law Firms and Associations. Supervision, responsibilities within a firm, and the ban on sharing legal fees with non-lawyers (5.4).
• Rule 6.x — Public Service. Pro bono work and related activities.
• Rule 7.x — Information About Legal Services. Advertising (7.1) and solicitation of clients (7.3) — the area where New York's rules are notably detailed.
• Rule 8.x — Maintaining the Integrity of the Profession. Bar admission honesty, reporting misconduct, and the catch-all misconduct rule (8.4).
Most of the code is about how lawyers run their practices, but a handful of rules directly shape what a consumer or class member experiences:
• Rule 1.5 — Fees. A lawyer's fee must be reasonable, and contingent-fee arrangements generally must be in a signed writing that states how the fee is calculated. This is the rule behind the percentage a plaintiffs' firm takes from a recovery.
• Rule 1.15 — Safekeeping Property. Client and third-party money — including settlement funds — must be held in a separate attorney trust account, kept apart from the lawyer's own money, with required recordkeeping. It's the rule that protects a claimant's share of a settlement while it sits with counsel.
• Rules 1.7–1.9 — Conflicts of Interest. A lawyer generally can't represent clients with directly adverse interests, or use a former client's confidences against them, without informed consent — a live issue in large class actions where one firm represents many people at once.
• Rules 7.1 and 7.3 — Advertising and Solicitation. These govern the "you may qualify" ads and post-incident outreach many people first encounter (see the next section).
New York has some of the most prescriptive attorney-advertising and solicitation rules in the country, split across two rules:
Rule 7.1 — Advertising. Like every state, New York bars false, deceptive, or misleading lawyer advertising. But New York adds mechanics most states don't spell out — including a labeling requirement:
"Every advertisement … shall be labeled 'Attorney Advertising' on the first page, or on the home page in the case of a web site."
— N.Y. Rules of Prof'l Conduct r. 7.1(f) (with exceptions for radio, TV, billboards, and certain print/directory ads)
The rule also sets requirements for retaining copies of ads and restricts things like paying for testimonials or endorsements without disclosure. That's why New York legal ads carry the "Attorney Advertising" tag and lean on disclaimers.
Rule 7.3 — Solicitation. Rule 7.3 draws the line between advertising to the public and targeting a specific person. A lawyer generally may not solicit employment by live in-person, telephone, or real-time electronic contact when a significant motive is the lawyer's financial gain — unless the person is another lawyer or already has a family, close personal, or prior professional relationship with the lawyer. New York adds a specific timing rule for accident cases:
• No solicitation about a specific personal-injury or wrongful-death incident may be sent before the 30th day after the incident — shortened to the 15th day only if a filing must be made within 30 days as a legal prerequisite to the claim.
• Targeted written or electronic solicitations that are allowed generally must be labeled as attorney advertising, and all solicitation must stop if the recipient makes known they don't want to be contacted.
The logic is about pressure: a mailed letter can be set aside and read calmly, while a live call moments after a crisis invites a hasty decision.
The rules are adopted and enforced by the four Appellate Division departments of the New York State Supreme Court, which oversee attorney discipline through the grievance committees in each department. A lawyer found to have violated the rules can face discipline ranging from a private admonition up to public censure, suspension, or disbarment.
One important limit: the Rules of Professional Conduct set the standard for discipline. They don't, on their own, give a client a right to sue a lawyer for money. A client harmed by a lawyer's conduct pursues that through a separate legal-malpractice or breach-of-fiduciary-duty claim; a violation of an ethics rule can be evidence in such a case, but it isn't the cause of action itself.
New York's rules track the ABA Model Rules in structure and numbering, but two points are worth keeping straight:
• Model vs. binding. The ABA Model Rules bind no lawyer anywhere — they're a template states adapt. What actually governs a New York lawyer is New York's adopted version in 22 NYCRR Part 1200.
• New York's own emphases. New York's advertising and solicitation rules (7.1 and 7.3) are more detailed than the ABA model, with the "Attorney Advertising" label and the 30-day accident-solicitation window being two examples. And New York adopted only the Rules, not the Comments, so the New York State Bar Association's Comments are guidance rather than law.
If you follow class actions and settlements, the Rules of Professional Conduct are the quiet framework behind a lot of what you see. When a New York court reviews a class action settlement, it scrutinizes the plaintiffs' lawyers' fee request against the reasonableness standard rooted in Rule 1.5. When settlement money is distributed, Rule 1.15's trust-account requirements are what keep class members' funds segregated and accounted for. And the "you may be entitled to compensation" ads and post-incident letters that surround high-profile cases are governed by Rules 7.1 and 7.3.
The rules also give you a practical checklist for reading legal advertising with the right skepticism. A New York ad promising a guaranteed result, an unlabeled solicitation, or a cold call from a lawyer you've never met about joining a case are all signs something is off. This is separate from the consumer-protection statutes that power many New York class actions — see New York General Business Law §§ 349 & 350 — but the two work in the same ecosystem: one governs how businesses can advertise to you, the other governs how lawyers can.
What are the New York Rules of Professional Conduct?
They are the ethics rules that govern lawyers licensed in New York. Adopted by the Appellate Divisions of the New York State Supreme Court effective April 1, 2009, they are published as Part 1200 of the Joint Rules of the Appellate Division (22 NYCRR Part 1200) and replaced New York's older Code of Professional Responsibility. Modeled on the ABA Model Rules, they cover competence, fees, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, advertising and solicitation, safekeeping of client money, and a lawyer's duties to courts and the public.
Who enforces New York's Rules of Professional Conduct?
The four Appellate Division departments of the New York State Supreme Court adopt the rules and oversee attorney discipline, working through the attorney grievance committees in each department. A lawyer who violates the rules can face discipline ranging from a private admonition to public censure, suspension, or disbarment. The rules set the standards for that discipline; they do not, by themselves, create a right for a client to sue for money.
How are the New York rules organized?
They follow the ABA Model Rules numbering, grouped into eight areas: Rule 1.x (the client-lawyer relationship — competence, fees, confidentiality, conflicts, and safekeeping property), Rule 2.x (counselor), Rule 3.x (advocate/duties to the court), Rule 4.x (dealings with non-clients), Rule 5.x (law firms and associations), Rule 6.x (public service), Rule 7.x (information about legal services — advertising and solicitation), and Rule 8.x (maintaining the integrity of the profession).
Can a New York lawyer contact me after an accident?
Rule 7.3 sharply limits it. A lawyer generally may not solicit you by live in-person, telephone, or real-time electronic contact when a significant motive is the lawyer's own financial gain, unless you're another lawyer or already have a family, close personal, or prior professional relationship. And for a specific personal-injury or wrongful-death incident, no solicitation may be sent before the 30th day after the incident (15 days if a filing has to be made within 30 days). Written solicitations that are allowed generally must be labeled as attorney advertising.
How do the New York rules differ from the ABA Model Rules?
New York's rules are modeled on the ABA Model Rules and use the same numbering, but the ABA Model Rules bind no one — they are a template. What actually governs a New York lawyer is New York's adopted version in 22 NYCRR Part 1200. New York also has some of the most detailed attorney-advertising and solicitation provisions in the country (Rules 7.1 and 7.3), and its Preamble, Scope, and Comments are published by the New York State Bar Association as guidance only; where a Comment conflicts with a Rule, the Rule controls.
• New York State Unified Court System — Part 1200, Rules of Professional Conduct (official text)
• Cornell Legal Information Institute — 22 NYCRR Part 1200 (Rules of Professional Conduct)
• New York State Bar Association — Professional Standards (Rules with Comments)
About This Page
General informational summary of New York's attorney-ethics rules, not legal advice. The rules that actually govern any particular lawyer are the current versions adopted by the Appellate Divisions in 22 NYCRR Part 1200, including the New York State Bar Association's Comments and related ethics opinions, which contain qualifications this summary condenses. Lawyers with questions about their own conduct should consult the current rules and ethics opinions directly.
