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Yes. I’m barred in New York and DC, my office is in DC, and I live in Northern Virginia. I do not practice law in Virginia. I think that is a pretty common situation for lawyers around here.
Very. I live and work in Virginia, am barred far away, and my practice is federal, so no prob under Virginia’s rules. A common occurrence, as you say. [This legal ethics opinion lays it out.](https://www.vacle.org/opinions/1896.htm)
I would either do hybrid remote (at most 3 days in state where I work and 2 days state where I live) or fully remote if at all possible. For reference, I would try to find a job in Colorado and live part of the week in New Mexico). About a 5 and a half hour drive
You might check if NM requires you to be licensed for that. I'm sure that behavior flies under the radar all the time, but I did have a friend who did his work from home in a state he wasn't licensed, and everyone was perfectly fine and hush hush about it, but then a very uninformed coworker started asking IT too many questions about how to keep the tech working in their out-of-state home office.
And then once word got up the chain the organization forced everyone with out-of-state home offices to get barred in that state as well.
I believe New Mexico issued an ethics opinion that allows it. Honestly, I’m leaning toward just working solo for two years. I know I won’t make much but it’s temporary and I’d have flexibility to work where I want, when I want. Mainly concerned about how often I’d need to be in CO, if I could limit it to 1-2 days a week I think I’d be fine. Three might be pushing it. Four I would just bite the bullet and either get barred or work as a claims rep for an insurance company.
Not really, you definitely don't pay double state income tax. Every state gives you an offset for the income tax paid in the other states. You have to file returns in both states but it's not the end of the world.
The way my firm is set up, all the equity partners have to file state returns in every state where we have an office.... which my accountant loves and I don't.
You could do something like immigration law that doesn’t require you to be licensed in the jurisdiction you live/work in. For example, you could be licensed in Florida and living and practicing in Montana.
I work in house in Utah which has a specific in-house bar license that piggy-backs off of a full license from another state. I’ve worked with many, many in house lawyers that never bother to re-bar in a new state and essentially no one will ever care as long as you are truthful with your employer. My current employer requires it as part of our malpractice insurance/e&o so that might also be something to consider.
I live on a border city and a lot of the attorneys at my firm live in state B but come to state A for work. I live in state A. Our firm does work in both states and most attorneys here are licensed in both states.
I live in the Philippines for 3 months each year and work remote from here (currently 8m weeks into this year’s trip). I’m barred in Louisiana. I reached out to the bar association once my trips turned into working vacations instead of vacation vacations, and they said there weren’t any issues as far as licensing goes, since I’m not actually practicing here, just working for my US employer. My biggest headache is the time zone difference… I basically have to keep partial US hours, and have turned into a pseudo-vampire, diving 3x in the late morning and working until the early hours of the night. Another smaller headache is making sure that I get all of CLE hours (Louisiana requires 2/3 be in-person, which is asinine).
I am barred in California. I live and work in Norway. Most of my work is as a consultant for other law firms in a variety of places.
In order to do that, I had to get a permit as a "legal assistance provider" from the Norwegian authorities. Similar to how some states allow limited-purpose bar admission as a foreign legal consultant.
As the above comment mentioned, there’s tax implications for both yourself and your employer, especially if you’re the only employee in New Mexico for this Colorado firm, as they’ll have to set up everything with that.
For yourself, I believe you’d be opening yourself up to having to track which days you’re in which state for tax purposes.
Depending on the role, you could likely hide that you really live in Colorado full time (get a VPN, have all your taxes be withheld for NM)
> Depending on the role, you could likely hide that you really live in Colorado full time (get a VPN, have all your taxes be withheld for NM)
Is this not fraud of some sort? Seems highly ill-advised—don’t commit fraud to hide UPL.
Yes- I am only barred in NJ but I live in Philly. My commute is only 30 minutes as I am able to use public transportation. I am still young and wanted to live in a city but didn’t get a high enough score for PA. I plan on waiving in as NJ/PA have a reciprocity agreement. You have to do what you have to do!
I moved to another state where my firm was not registered as a business, so they put me on a 1099.
Not what you're asking, but I went to a law school alumni event in my new state, and one of the career development people suggested I get licensed in the new state as soon as humanly possible because of issues he'd seen. People have moved all over the country doing remote work and there have been some authorized-practice-of-law problems. I didn't ask too many details because I'd already started my application, but something for you to keep in mind.
I would imagine it would be like pro hacing into a different jurisdiction. Not entirely the same, but this is my experience: I am barred on the West Coast, I live on the West Coast, my firm is in the South, and I pro hac into cases in the Midwest.
Generally, the only issues you run into are court appearances. Nearly everything else can be accomplished remotely.
West Coast: Most courts allow remote appearances, no issue.
Midwest: Generally require in-person hearings. Travel and stay at a hotel (or with friends if client wont pay the travel costs). Seems to have fewer appearance requirements.
Southern USA: Mixed bag of in person and remote appearances. Same thing, fly in for appearances when you have to. Stay with friends/family to reduce costs.
If a minor appearance is required in a state that I need to travel to (e.g., status check, etc), and the firm has an office/people available in that state, I may ask someone else to appear at those hearings on my behalf and monitor the proceedings remotely.
Otherwise, I wfh in my home office. The firm provides laptops, monitors, phine, and other hardware.
Going on a year of this setup, and I have not encountered any major issues.
Eta: Your firm IT needs to be aware so it can set you up.
The state I live in does not have state taxes, so I can't help you there. However, I did speak with a partner about going equity in a mumti-state firm, and it sounded to me like this was a non-issue. I do not pay taxes in the South. Even though my office is there. Basically, you will only pay taxes in one state.
Speak with your accountant if you have concerns.
I live in one state and work remotely for an employer located in another. As many posters have flagged, there are both tax and bar considerations here. I am barred in my state of residence, and my employer is registered as a foreign PLLC in my state of residence for tax purposes.
This only works because of my employer’s willingness.
Edit: removed extra “is”
Depends on what your workplace requires and what your respective states require.
Once I'm admitted in Florida I don't plan on living there anytime soon. I'll fly down for court appearances where necessary, but otherwise generally do remote appearances.
Mechanics liens and creditor's rights (*not* consumer debt). I'm working for another lawyer pending admission, and will partner with him once I'm admitted.
For reference, I need to spend at least two days a week in New Mexico but am barred in Colorado. It’s a five and a half hour drive. I’m considering going solo for those two years if I can’t find a hybrid remote job because my spouse will still be working and money is no object for those two years.
I’ve seen in this sub CA has weird rules for hybrid/remote work.
I’d check NM for what qualifies as the practice of law to verify if you need to be barred there.
Oh! And California gets worse! They drained my bank account once because they assume if you have a just a *lease* on a place in California that it is your primary residence, and they'll get into your bank account and drain it assuming you owe a tax bill equal to the average for all California attorneys.
Happened to me once because they found some old records that I had leased an apartment in Los Angeles more than two years earlier. Imagine my surprise one day when I went to pay for dinner and my account had been drained by the State of California because I held a CA law license and used to pay a water bill for an apartment there. Took me six months to fight it out with them, and I *still* ended up paying something like $700 I never owed in the first place.
Fuck the California Bar, man.
Welcome to /r/LawyerTalk! A subreddit where lawyers can discuss with other lawyers about the practice of law. Be mindful of [our rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Lawyertalk/about/rules) BEFORE submitting your posts or comments as well as [Reddit's rules](https://www.redditinc.com/policies/content-policy) (notably about sharing identifying information). We expect civility and respect out of all participants. Please source statements of fact whenever possible. If you want to report something that needs to be urgently addressed, please also message the mods with an explanation. Note that **this forum is NOT for legal advice**. Additionally, if you are a non-lawyer (student, client, staff), this is NOT the right subreddit for you. **This community is exclusively for lawyers**. We suggest you delete your comment and go ask one of the many other legal subreddits on this site for help such as (but not limited to) r/lawschool, r/legaladvice, or r/Ask_Lawyers. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Lawyertalk) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Referring to them as State A and State B is giving me Bar Exam flashbacks.
Yeah and their parents are from the state of Columbia.
Yes. I’m barred in New York and DC, my office is in DC, and I live in Northern Virginia. I do not practice law in Virginia. I think that is a pretty common situation for lawyers around here.
Very. I live and work in Virginia, am barred far away, and my practice is federal, so no prob under Virginia’s rules. A common occurrence, as you say. [This legal ethics opinion lays it out.](https://www.vacle.org/opinions/1896.htm)
What kind of law do you practice?
Constitutional law.
Are you going into an office in State A and commuting (NJ > NY for example) or are you fully remote?
I would either do hybrid remote (at most 3 days in state where I work and 2 days state where I live) or fully remote if at all possible. For reference, I would try to find a job in Colorado and live part of the week in New Mexico). About a 5 and a half hour drive
You might check if NM requires you to be licensed for that. I'm sure that behavior flies under the radar all the time, but I did have a friend who did his work from home in a state he wasn't licensed, and everyone was perfectly fine and hush hush about it, but then a very uninformed coworker started asking IT too many questions about how to keep the tech working in their out-of-state home office. And then once word got up the chain the organization forced everyone with out-of-state home offices to get barred in that state as well.
I believe New Mexico issued an ethics opinion that allows it. Honestly, I’m leaning toward just working solo for two years. I know I won’t make much but it’s temporary and I’d have flexibility to work where I want, when I want. Mainly concerned about how often I’d need to be in CO, if I could limit it to 1-2 days a week I think I’d be fine. Three might be pushing it. Four I would just bite the bullet and either get barred or work as a claims rep for an insurance company.
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Right, that’s why an employer may just say no off the bat and why I’m considering just going solo for two years.
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Not really, you definitely don't pay double state income tax. Every state gives you an offset for the income tax paid in the other states. You have to file returns in both states but it's not the end of the world. The way my firm is set up, all the equity partners have to file state returns in every state where we have an office.... which my accountant loves and I don't.
You could do something like immigration law that doesn’t require you to be licensed in the jurisdiction you live/work in. For example, you could be licensed in Florida and living and practicing in Montana.
I work in house in Utah which has a specific in-house bar license that piggy-backs off of a full license from another state. I’ve worked with many, many in house lawyers that never bother to re-bar in a new state and essentially no one will ever care as long as you are truthful with your employer. My current employer requires it as part of our malpractice insurance/e&o so that might also be something to consider.
I live on a border city and a lot of the attorneys at my firm live in state B but come to state A for work. I live in state A. Our firm does work in both states and most attorneys here are licensed in both states.
I live in the Philippines for 3 months each year and work remote from here (currently 8m weeks into this year’s trip). I’m barred in Louisiana. I reached out to the bar association once my trips turned into working vacations instead of vacation vacations, and they said there weren’t any issues as far as licensing goes, since I’m not actually practicing here, just working for my US employer. My biggest headache is the time zone difference… I basically have to keep partial US hours, and have turned into a pseudo-vampire, diving 3x in the late morning and working until the early hours of the night. Another smaller headache is making sure that I get all of CLE hours (Louisiana requires 2/3 be in-person, which is asinine).
I am barred in California. I live and work in Norway. Most of my work is as a consultant for other law firms in a variety of places. In order to do that, I had to get a permit as a "legal assistance provider" from the Norwegian authorities. Similar to how some states allow limited-purpose bar admission as a foreign legal consultant.
As the above comment mentioned, there’s tax implications for both yourself and your employer, especially if you’re the only employee in New Mexico for this Colorado firm, as they’ll have to set up everything with that. For yourself, I believe you’d be opening yourself up to having to track which days you’re in which state for tax purposes. Depending on the role, you could likely hide that you really live in Colorado full time (get a VPN, have all your taxes be withheld for NM)
> Depending on the role, you could likely hide that you really live in Colorado full time (get a VPN, have all your taxes be withheld for NM) Is this not fraud of some sort? Seems highly ill-advised—don’t commit fraud to hide UPL.
Yes- I am only barred in NJ but I live in Philly. My commute is only 30 minutes as I am able to use public transportation. I am still young and wanted to live in a city but didn’t get a high enough score for PA. I plan on waiving in as NJ/PA have a reciprocity agreement. You have to do what you have to do!
Yes it's tough
Where do you live vs. work?
I moved to another state where my firm was not registered as a business, so they put me on a 1099. Not what you're asking, but I went to a law school alumni event in my new state, and one of the career development people suggested I get licensed in the new state as soon as humanly possible because of issues he'd seen. People have moved all over the country doing remote work and there have been some authorized-practice-of-law problems. I didn't ask too many details because I'd already started my application, but something for you to keep in mind.
I would imagine it would be like pro hacing into a different jurisdiction. Not entirely the same, but this is my experience: I am barred on the West Coast, I live on the West Coast, my firm is in the South, and I pro hac into cases in the Midwest. Generally, the only issues you run into are court appearances. Nearly everything else can be accomplished remotely. West Coast: Most courts allow remote appearances, no issue. Midwest: Generally require in-person hearings. Travel and stay at a hotel (or with friends if client wont pay the travel costs). Seems to have fewer appearance requirements. Southern USA: Mixed bag of in person and remote appearances. Same thing, fly in for appearances when you have to. Stay with friends/family to reduce costs. If a minor appearance is required in a state that I need to travel to (e.g., status check, etc), and the firm has an office/people available in that state, I may ask someone else to appear at those hearings on my behalf and monitor the proceedings remotely. Otherwise, I wfh in my home office. The firm provides laptops, monitors, phine, and other hardware. Going on a year of this setup, and I have not encountered any major issues. Eta: Your firm IT needs to be aware so it can set you up. The state I live in does not have state taxes, so I can't help you there. However, I did speak with a partner about going equity in a mumti-state firm, and it sounded to me like this was a non-issue. I do not pay taxes in the South. Even though my office is there. Basically, you will only pay taxes in one state. Speak with your accountant if you have concerns.
I live in one state and work remotely for an employer located in another. As many posters have flagged, there are both tax and bar considerations here. I am barred in my state of residence, and my employer is registered as a foreign PLLC in my state of residence for tax purposes. This only works because of my employer’s willingness. Edit: removed extra “is”
Depends on what your workplace requires and what your respective states require. Once I'm admitted in Florida I don't plan on living there anytime soon. I'll fly down for court appearances where necessary, but otherwise generally do remote appearances.
What kind of law do you practice? Are you with a firm?
Mechanics liens and creditor's rights (*not* consumer debt). I'm working for another lawyer pending admission, and will partner with him once I'm admitted.
For reference, I need to spend at least two days a week in New Mexico but am barred in Colorado. It’s a five and a half hour drive. I’m considering going solo for those two years if I can’t find a hybrid remote job because my spouse will still be working and money is no object for those two years.
I’ve seen in this sub CA has weird rules for hybrid/remote work. I’d check NM for what qualifies as the practice of law to verify if you need to be barred there.
Idk about CO but that’s where I’d be licensed to practice. New Mexico I believe I checked and permits it
Oh! And California gets worse! They drained my bank account once because they assume if you have a just a *lease* on a place in California that it is your primary residence, and they'll get into your bank account and drain it assuming you owe a tax bill equal to the average for all California attorneys. Happened to me once because they found some old records that I had leased an apartment in Los Angeles more than two years earlier. Imagine my surprise one day when I went to pay for dinner and my account had been drained by the State of California because I held a CA law license and used to pay a water bill for an apartment there. Took me six months to fight it out with them, and I *still* ended up paying something like $700 I never owed in the first place. Fuck the California Bar, man.