New York, NY, Monday, November 18, 2024 – The Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York (“WBASNY”) supports A.7241A/S.8663, the Notary Public reform bill, which would reform the Notary Public Law to reflect that Notaries shall not be required to create or retain any notarial record of any notarial act when the notarization is in person and urges Governor Kathy Hochul to sign the bill into law.
Current law requires Notary Publics in New York to retain transaction records for 10 years. The goal of the law was to prevent fraud, but it had the unintended consequence of creating onerous requirements for attorneys when attorneys must already abide by the rules under the New York State Rules of Professional Conduct. The initial reforms to the law governing notaries modernized the process and provided access to notarial services for a broader group of individuals; however, within these sweeping changes, the provisions regarding record keeping and reporting duties required attorneys to dedicate significant time to paperwork despite having other ethical duties. These requirements have created a chilling effect, resulting in some attorneys refusing to be a notary.
WBASNY commends the legislature, including the bills’ sponsors, Assemblyman Charles D. Lavine and Senator Brad M. Hoylman-Sigal, for recognizing the need for change.
WBASNY calls on Governor Kathy Hochul to sign this legislation immediately, since it requires reporting and documentation requirements for attorneys which are in most cases duplicative and unnecessarily burdensome.
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The Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York (WBASNY) is the professional membership organization of choice for nearly 4,000 attorneys throughout New York State, and the largest statewide women’s bar association in the country. For four decades, WBASNY has been a singularly important resource for women lawyers, with professional networking, continuing legal education programming, leadership training, and advocacy for the rights of women, children, and families. Through involvement with WBASNY’s 20 regional chapters and its 40-plus substantive law committees, WBASNY’s members collaborate with one another on a variety of issues and perform public and community service, in furtherance of its mission to promote the advancement of the status of women in society and women in the legal profession; to promote the fair and equal administration of justice; and to act as a unified voice for its members with respect to issues of statewide, national and international significance to women generally and women attorneys in particular. WBASNY holds United Nations NGO status with the U.N.’s Department of Public Information, and Special Consultative status in association with the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). WBASNY is also a founding member of the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations.