Gov. Andrew Cuomo approved a bill on Aug. 24 that provides attorney-client privilege for communications between consumers and lawyer referral services.

The bill, sponsored by state Sen. John Bonacic, R-Orange, and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, D-Bronx, was introduced last year to provide confidentiality protections for individuals seeking an attorney. Dinowitz and Bonacic chair the Judiciary Committees in their respective chambers.

The legislation adds a provision to the state judiciary law requiring that any communication between an individual and an agent or member of a lawyer referral service be kept confidential. The legislation takes effect immediately.

According to the bill's sponsors, lawyer referral services already have immunity from civil action if they provide a referral without charge and as a public service, but the statute did not have a provision addressing confidentiality. The bill fixes that, the sponsors said in a memo with the bill.

“Information provided by a consumer when seeking legal referrals often includes information that could cause damage to a consumer's criminal or civil case if revealed to adverse parties,” the memo said.

The legislation was proposed by the New York state and New York City bar associations, both of which applauded Cuomo's approval in statements.

“Providing protection for communications between a lawyer referral service and a client has remained a key legislative priority of the New York State Bar Association,” said Michael Miller, president of the state bar association. “We applaud Governor Cuomo and the Legislature for making this important change to New York's law.”

“The city bar was pleased to collaborate with the state bar and other New York bar associations to help bring this proposal to fruition, and to facilitate passage of an ABA resolution in the hopes that other states will follow suit,” said David G. Keyko, chair of the city bar's legal referral service committee. “We applaud the Legislature and the governor for enacting this measure into law.”