The Attorney General serves all New Yorkers in numerous matters affecting their daily lives. The Attorney General's Office is charged with the statutory and common law powers to protect consumers and investors, charitable donors, the public health and environment, civil rights, and the rights of wage-earners and businesses across the State.
About the Attorney General. Letitia “Tish” James is the 67th Attorney General for the State of New York. With decades of work, she is an experienced attorney and public servant with a long record of accomplishments. She is the first woman of color to hold statewide office in New York and the first woman to be elected Attorney General.
While varying from one jurisdiction to the next due to statutory and constitutional mandates, the role of attorney general typically includes: Issuing formal opinions to state agencies. Acting as public advocates in areas such as child support enforcement, consumer protections, antitrust and utility regulation. Proposing legislation.
In recent years, the New York Attorney General has pursued civil and criminal enforcement actions under provisions of New York’s Executive Law and General Business Law, which the Attorney General’s office, and often the courts, interpret very broadly. New York’s Executive Law. Section 63(12) of New York’s Executive Law authorizes the New York Attorney General to …
As head of the Department of Law, the Attorney General is both the “People's Lawyer” and the State's chief legal officer. As the “People's Lawyer,” the Attorney General serves as the guardian of the legal rights of the citizens of New York, its organizations and its natural resources.
Attorneys general are the top legal officers of their state or territory. They advise and represent their legislature and state agencies and act as the “People's Lawyer” for the citizens. Most are elected, though a few are appointed by the governor.
The Attorney General acts independently of the Governor of New York. The department's regulations are compiled in title 13 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations (NYCRR).
The Attorney General can accept briefs but cannot appear against the Government. They cannot defend an accused in the criminal proceedings and accept the directorship of a company without the permission of the Government. The Attorney General is assisted by a Solicitor General and Additional Solicitors General.
The Attorney General of the United States – appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate – heads the DOJ with its more than 100,000 attorneys, special agents, and other staff. It represents the United States in federal criminal and civil litigation, and provides legal advice to the President and Cabinet.
The highest-paid was the attorney general of New York, who received $179,000. The salaries paid last year to the city attorneys of the five largest California municipalities ranged from $214,000 in Los Angeles to $198,000 in San Diego.Mar 19, 2013
Are You In An Attorney State?StateAttorney State?New MexicoNoNew YorkYes - Attorney StateNorth CarolinaYes - Attorney StateNorth DakotaYes - Attorney State47 more rows•Jan 4, 2022
In addition to the thirteen Regional Office, the Attorney General has two executive offices: one in Albany and one in New York City. Contact the executive office here.
The Attorney General advises the executive branch of state government and defends actions and proceedings on behalf of the state. The Attorney General acts independently of the Governor of New York. The department's regulations are compiled in title 13 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations (NYCRR).
The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government of New Netherlands. Democrat Letitia James currently serves as Attorney General, in office since January 1, 2019.
The attorney general is elected in the midterm elections and serves four-year terms.
Letitia James defeated Keith Wofford, Michael Sussman, Christopher B. Garvey, and Nancy Sliwa in the general election for Attorney General of New York on November 6, 2018. There were no incumbents in this race.
To view the electoral history dating back to 2002 for the office of New York Attorney General, Click to expand the section. On November 2, 2010, Eric Schneiderman won election to the office of New York Attorney General. He defeated Dan Donovan (R), Carl Person (L) and Ramon Jimenez (Frdm) in the general election.
As chief legal officers of the states, commonwealths, District of Columbia, and territories of the United States, the role of an attorney general is to serve as counselor to state government agencies and legislatures, and as a representative of the public interest.
Issuing formal opinions to state agencies. Acting as public advocates in areas such as child support enforcement, consumer protections, antitrust and utility regulation. Proposing legislation. Enforcing federal and state environmental laws. Representing the state and state agencies before the state and federal courts.
The People’s Lawyer is a biweekly podcast from NAAG that explores the role of state and territory attorneys general as chief legal officers and their work protecting the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution.
We have previously written about the New York Attorney General’s expansive enforcement powers under New York’s Martin Act. [1] The Martin Act broadly regulates the advertisement, issuance, exchange, purchase or sale of securities, commodities and certain other investments within or from New York. It authorizes the Attorney General to conduct investigations of potential securities or commodities fraud, and to bring civil or criminal actions against alleged violators of the Act. [2] To that end, the Martin Act vests the New York Attorney General with a wide variety of enforcement powers, including the power to:
An investigative subpoena served by the New York Attorney General warrants the same care, and practical steps, that a subpoena in the more usual context—a civil lawsuit— requires. Thus, as with any subpoena, counsel should first ensure that the client properly implements a sufficient hold on potentially responsive electronic and hardcopy documents. At the outset, counsel should also, as with any law enforcement subpoena, contact the attorney at the New York Attorney General’s Office who issued the subpoena in an attempt to learn what they can about the investigation underlying the subpoena, and why the client received it. Counsel should also seek as necessary to clarify ambiguous requests, narrow requests that suffer from over-breadth, and seek an appropriate extension of any deadline in the subpoena for production of responsive documents.
Under the terms of Section 63 (12), “fraudulent conduct” includes “any device, scheme or artifice to defraud and any deception, misrepresentations, concealment, suppression, false pretense, false promise or unconscionable contractual provision.”.
The Martin Act, Executive Law Section 63 (12) , and New York GBL Sections 349 and 350, along with certain additional New York statutory provisions, combine to grant the New York Attorney General broad authority to investigate and pursue civil and criminal enforcement actions related to allegedly fraudulent or deceptive and misleading practices involving securities, commodities and other financial and consumer transactions. The absence in these provisions of certain basic procedural and substantive protections, at least as interpreted by the New York Attorney General and some New York courts—and the aggressive manner in which a succession of New York Attorneys General have chosen to apply them—underscores the need for counsel representing an individual or entity served with an Attorney General investigative subpoena to consider challenging the propriety of the Attorney General’s conduct on procedural or substantive grounds. Such a response may include a motion to quash a subpoena in which procedural or substantive constitutional claims, along with other appropriate claims and objections, could be raised. Further scrutiny of the New York Attorney General’s enforcement program on these grounds by New York and federal trial and appellate courts is overdue.
Notably, the Martin Act contains no scienter requirement. Courts interpreting the statute have held that the Attorney General does not need proof of an intent to deceive or defraud to begin an investigation or, for that matter, even to initiate an enforcement action.
What is the Attorney General New York? The New York Attorney General is a legal and administrative position undertaken by the appointed individual serving as the primary attorney – or lawyer – on behalf of the State of New York; the appointment of the NYS Attorney General takes place through a statewide election. The Attorney General New York.
The History of the New York Attorney General. The first New York Attorney General was Egbert Benson, who served from 1777 to 1788.
The Office of the Attorney General New York. The Office of the Attorney General of the State of New York is located in the State Capitol Building in Albany, New York.
The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United Stateson all legal matters. The attorney general is a statutory member of the Cabinet of the United States.
The title "attorney general" is an example of a noun (attorney) followed by a postpositive adjective(general).[8]". General" is a description of the type of attorney, not a title or rank in itself (as it would be in the military).[8]
The Attorney General of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government of New Netherlands. The Attorney General of the State of New York is the highest-paid State Attorney General in the country.
The Attorney General advises the executive branch of state government and defends actions and proceedings on behalf of the state. The Attorney General acts independently of the Governor of New York. The department's regulations are compiled in title 13 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations (NYCRR).
The legal functions of the Department of Law are divided primarily into five major divisions: Appeals and Opinions, State Counsel, Criminal Justice, Economic Justice and Social Justice.
• Harlan Levy (2011–2015)
• Ruth Kessler Toch (1966–1979)
• Shirley Adelson Siegel (1979–1982)
• From 1684 to 1777, when New York was under the British colonial government, the Attorney General was appointed by the British crown, or the colonial governor on its behalf. In 1693, the Attorney General earned a salary of 50 pounds.
• From 1777 to 1822, the Attorney General was appointed by the Council of Appointment.
• New York Attorney General elections
• Official website
• Department of Law in the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations
• New York Attorney General articles at ABA Journal
• News and Commentary at FindLaw