Law new is an ever-changing field that requires lawyers to stay on top of the latest trends and practices. This can mean finding new ways to serve clients, incorporating new technologies into the practice and adopting other innovative strategies that have not been used in the past. It can also mean staying on top of the new developments in the legal profession, such as alternative business structures. While this concept is still evolving, it has become a critical component for any successful lawyer.
This guide includes links to a variety of resources for researching laws and regulations in New York state and federally-regulated businesses. It focuses on sites that provide the full text of rules and regulations, as well as commentary from attorneys writing primarily for other lawyers. Exceptions are made for sites that are government-run or otherwise offer general information on a subject. The guide is updated frequently and draws on a wide variety of sources to highlight new developments in law and policy.
New York state laws and regulations are published in the Consolidated Laws (CPL). This online database allows you to search the full texts of CPL statutes, rules, and regulations as they exist today. It includes full-text documents as well as hyperlinked tables of contents that link to the relevant section in the printed CPL. The website provides an easy-to-use and comprehensive overview of the state’s lawmaking process.
Federal legislation is passed through the United States Congress. Learn about how a bill becomes a law and how the process is different in each branch of the U.S. government. Bills can originate from a member of the House or Senate or be recommended by citizens or groups to a sitting legislator. Once a lawmaker has received a bill, the bill is assigned to a committee that will research it and make changes before it reaches the floor of either the House or Senate for consideration.
Local law and rule changes
In order to keep up with the changing laws and regulations of the City of New York, DCWP has created a list of current and future changes in its enforcement rules. This list will be updated monthly.
These rules implement a number of local laws and policies, including Local Law 202 of 2019, Local Law 144 of 2021 and Local Law 37 of 2022. The rules add penalty schedules related to keeping or selling any force-fed products, open captioning in motion picture theaters and automated employment decision tools.
The Department of Consumer and Worker Protection is amending its rules relating to licensed process servers in order to clarify requirements and ensure consistency with recent changes to state law. The amendments also include additional restrictions on the advertising of process serving services.
The Department of Consumer and Worker Protection is changing its enforcement rules relating to sidewalk cafes to align with the provisions in Local Law 128 of 2021. The amendments will also add penalties for failure to comply with these requirements.