NY Non-Lawyer Practice Rules Revived by Second Circuit

Legal tech firm Upsolve Inc. on Tuesday lost its bid to get its debt collection support work exempted from New York rules restricting the practice of law to lawyers.

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruling is a setback for Upsolve, vacating an earlier Manhattan trial court finding that the nonprofit’s guidance is protected by the First Amendment.

Judges agreed with the district court that New York’s practice-of-law statutes regulate speech, but held that the “regulation is content neutral and thus subject only to intermediate scrutiny.” The lower court “applied the incorrect level of scrutiny” to the ...