Nonprofit sues N.Y. AG over practice rules in bid to provide free legal advice
(Reuters) - Nonprofit Upsolve Inc on Tuesday sued the New York attorney general's office to bar the state from enforcing unauthorized practice of law rules against a free legal advice program for low-income New Yorkers facing debt collection lawsuits that the organization wants to start.
Upsolve and Reverend John Udo-Okon, a pastor in the South Bronx, in a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, seek a declaration that applying the state rules to the Upsolve program would be unconstitutional.
The project would equip non-lawyers to offer "reliable, free, straightforward, and narrowly circumscribed" legal advice on answering debt collection actions, the complaint said.
Upsolve and Udo-Okon said they are "chilled" from giving advice through the initiative "because of the threat of prosecution under New York's UPL rules," according to a motion for preliminary injunction.
The UPL rules prevent people who aren't lawyers from providing such "individualized" advice on responding to lawsuits, the filing said.
Rohan Pavuluri, CEO and co-founder of Upsolve, said the organization will only launch the program if it wins the lawsuit.
Upsolve and Udo-Okon are represented by a team of lawyers from Weil, Gotshal & Manges, including Zachary Tripp and Greg Silbert, co-heads of the firm's appellate practice.
New York Attorney General Letitia James' office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
New York City-based Upsolve, which, says it currently helps low-income individuals file for bankruptcy for free, said in the complaint that debt collection actions "are one of the most common kinds of lawsuits in New York."
The "vast majority" of defendants can't afford a lawyer or find pro bono counsel, and encounter language and other barriers to filling out a form provided by the state for responding to the lawsuits, leading many to default, the complaint said.
The case is Upsolve Inc v. James, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 1:22-cv-00627
For the plaintiffs: Zachary Tripp and Gregory Silbert of Weil, Gotshal & Manges
For James: Unknown
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