Thanks to the efforts of Erik Wilson, a Litigation associate from Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP, military families now have additional financial stability when they are transferred to New York State. Under a new law that went into effect last week, which Mr. Wilson helped to draft and lobby for, military spouses with professional licenses who move to New York as the result of a transfer can get expedited services to become licensed in the state.
Each time military spouses who are licensed in areas such as dentistry, health care and veterinary medicine move with their transferred spouse, they must spend time and money reapplying to practice in the new state. This burden can lead to periods of unemployment along with the expense of the application process. The new law makes this process both quicker and easier for the many professionals who need licenses to practice in the state, providing an accelerated application review and, if needed, a temporary permit to practice.
A US Marine Corps Captain before joining Milbank, Mr. Wilson began lobbying for a different version of the bill through his involvement with the New York City Bar Association, where he is the current Secretary of the Military Affairs and Justice Committee, and former Co-Chair of the Subcommittee on New York Military Families. Retired Milbank partner Rick Gray joined the Military Affairs and Justice Committee last year, and immediately pitched in to assist, including a re-work of key sections of the bill.
Though New York was the last state to pass measures related to expedited licensing for military spouses, the bill’s passage was an uphill battle, Erik explains. The redrafted bill still faced stiff opposition by some members of the New York legislature, who had managed to keep the prior bill stuck in committee since 2014. After lobbying efforts garnered the support of the Pentagon, White House, and the Office of the First Lady, however, the bill was finally signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo last fall.
Mr. Wilson explains that “before this bill was enacted, military families transferred into New York faced onerous licensing regulations that often prevented the military spouse from working in his or her chosen profession, even if the spouse had decades of professional experience. This forced military spouses to take jobs out of their chosen professions, which often resulted in significant pay cuts and loss of critical experience. Moreover, a multi-year gap in their professional experience made it much more difficult for these spouses to re-enter their profession after they left New York. The result was that many military spouses were forced to give up their careers entirely. It was particularly troubling to me that New York—the home of the Twin Towers—was the last state to address this problem. I know the sacrifices military spouses make for all of us, and I am honored to have played a part in ensuring they do not have to sacrifice their careers as well.”
Long committed to pro bono and professional service, Mr. Wilson helped exonerate two wrongfully-convicted clients using DNA evidence at the Innocence Project, served as an NGO observer to the 9/11 trials in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and helped draft amicus briefs for marriage equality cases before the Supreme Court of the United States and five Circuit Courts of Appeal.
