The law is a broad field, encompassing many different areas of practice. Lawyers must remain flexible in order to take advantage of new developments, as well as new opportunities to benefit their clients. One such area is “new law,” which encompasses a variety of techniques that can help lawyers reach their clients in new ways. It can also allow attorneys to branch out without impacting the main focus of their firm’s legal efforts.
New law can be anything from expanding a legal business’s services to embracing new technologies. It may involve finding creative solutions to complex intellectual property issues or developing strategies to assist underserved communities. Using new law practices to benefit clients can be an effective way for legal firms to discover new revenue streams while remaining competitive in the current economy.
In addition to the Constitution, laws passed by the legislature and codified in the Consolidated Laws, New York state law includes a large number of local laws and ordinances. Many of these laws require a certain level of research and analysis to determine “what the law is”. One must first ascertain the facts, then locate any statutes that may apply. Next, one must identify any relevant cases that have been decided in similar situations and extract the guiding principles, analogies and statements by the courts of what they consider to be important factors in determining how to interpret and apply the law.
A number of new laws took effect in 2022, including a new law that requires companies to include compensation ranges in job postings. This law was enacted to address the gap in pay between male and female employees and build on Governor Hochul’s commitment to promoting fairness and equity in the workplace.
Another law that took effect this year is a law to protect the confidentiality of medical records and other information related to patient privacy. This law is in response to a number of recent high profile cases involving alleged misuse or disclosure of private medical information.
In addition to the aforementioned laws, several other new laws and regulations took effect this year, including requirements for City agencies to promptly disclose any security breaches of private information that could compromise personal data; an exemption from item pricing requirements for retail stores that have scanners available for consumer use; and a licensing scheme for third-party food delivery services. To read more about these laws, please click the links below.