What is an Advising Attorney?

We require that claimants have an advising attorney available because every single case has issues that arise where people need or request legal advice. All manner of questions, problems, and legal issues emerge during the unemployment hearing process, where good, solid legal advice can make the difference between a claimant being able to prosecute their unemployment case effectively and a claimant being unable to proceed with their appeal and hearing.

"My landlord served me with a notice, what can I do? My bank froze my accounts without warning. My employer violated my rights, can I sue them? My cat's vet sent a bill for twice the agreed amount. I have been asked to sign a document. My employer claims I committed a crime, am I in jeopardy?" And literally thousands of other legal questions. None of which we answer.

In the most traditional settings at the start of American law, when it was still joined with British law, what we now call attorneys were separated into solicitors and barristers. The same system still exists today in Great Britain. Solicitors advise clients and prepare documents, while barristers represent people before courts and judges. In unemployment cases, due to the unique fee structure and other limitations, this traditional system makes considerable sense because the hearing system is also similar in some ways to European systems.

We do not provide legal advice to our clients and therefore require our clients to have another source of legal advice available. It's easier to think of us as administrative barristers who specialize in unemployment cases and the unemployment forum.

Just to be clear: we handle the unemployment hearings before the judge for you, but we require our clients to have an advising attorney retained to provide legal advice for any other issues that arise or other legal guidance a claimant might need.

Make sure that you don't already have an attorney through your church, former employer, or other family member—or even a friend or relative who is an attorney. If you have one, that attorney can usually serve as your advising attorney. We greatly prefer for claimants to have pre-existing relationships with their advising attorneys, as this makes them much more effective in the role.

If you absolutely don't have one available already, we can help by referring you to one or more services that offer an advising attorney for a very low cost. They would provide you with the details, which change from time to time. Our referrals are strictly offered as a convenience for claimants who don't have an advisor and want to save time finding one. We absolutely do not require you to use a particular attorney, firm, or service. There are over 180,000 licensed attorneys in New York State, and you are welcome to choose any qualified one of your preference.

We require that they be licensed in New York State (and for out-of-state claimants for New York benefits, in the state in which they reside) and have access to a valid IOLA account. There are also other professional and technical requirements that must be discussed with the attorney directly.

Once you have an advising attorney in place, we are ready to investigate further and, if accepted, represent you at your unemployment hearing. When you can easily retain an advising attorney for about the price of buying one a cup coffee each day, it is sheer insanity to not have one working for you.