The Florida Supreme Court today approved standards for adoption law and education law as the 23rd and 24th areas available to attorneys for Florida Bar board certification.
Attorneys may apply later this year for the two new certification areas on The Florida Bar Web site at www.FloridaBar.org/certification.
The Supreme Court order amends Florida Bar rules to add the two new areas to the existing certification program, which was established as a way for consumers to identify lawyers who have met established standards in particular practice areas.
Certified attorneys are the only Florida lawyers allowed to identify or advertise themselves as specialists or experts. Board certification evaluates attorneys’ special knowledge, skills and proficiency in various areas of law and professionalism and ethics in practice.
“Florida’s board certification program continues to diversify its array of available practice areas to benefit lawyers who want to be recognized as experts in their fields,” said Joni Armstrong Coffey, who chairs The Florida Bar’s Board of Legal Specialization & Education. “Court approval for two additional certification areas also will give consumers greater access to specialists for legal counsel.”
The BLSE oversees Florida’s board-certification program.
Certification is the highest level of evaluation by The Florida Bar of the competency and experience of attorneys in areas of law approved for certification by the Supreme Court of Florida. Florida offers the greatest number of state-approved certification areas in the nation.
A lawyer who is a member in good standing of The Florida Bar and who meets the standards prescribed by the state’s Supreme Court may become board certified in one or more of 24 certification fields. Only 4,300 of Florida’s 86,000 lawyers are board certified.
Lawyers certified in adoption law deal with complexities and legalities in interstate and intrastate adoption placements, civil controversies arising from termination of biological parents’ parental rights and the Indian Child Welfare Act.
Adoption law certification applicants must:
• Have at least five years of law practice, of which at least 50 percent has been spent in the active participation in adoption law.
• Demonstrate substantial experience in adoption law , including substantial involvement in at least 50 adoption placements during the five-year period immediately preceding application.
• Undergo peer review by attorneys and judges.
• Complete 30 credit hours of approved continuing legal education in adoption law during the three-year period immediately preceding the date of application.
• Pass a rigorous examination.
Lawyers certified in education law deal with the legal rights, responsibilities, procedures and practices of educational institutions, students, personnel employed by or on behalf of educational institutions and the guardians and parents of students participating in education.
Education law certification applicants must:
• Have been engaged in the practice of education law for at least five years immediately preceding the date of application.
• Be members in good standing of any U.S. state or District of Columbia bar association for at least five years preceding application.
• Demonstrate substantial involvement in the practice of education law during at least three of the five years immediately preceding the date of application.
• Demonstrate broad, substantial, practical experience in education law.
• Undergo peer review by attorneys and judges.
• Complete 50 credit hours of approved continuing legal education in education law during the three-year period immediately preceding the date of application.
• Pass a rigorous examination.
Education law certification applicants who demonstrate substantial involvement in education law for a minimum of 20 years and who otherwise fulfill the standards are exempt from the examination. The exemption is only applicable to those applicants who apply within the first two application filing periods from the effective date of the standards.
Board certification is valid for five years. Attorneys during that time must continue to practice law and attend Florida Bar-approved continuing legal education courses. Recertification requirements are similar to those for initial certification. Not all qualified lawyers are certified, but those who are board certified have taken the extra steps to have their competence and experience evaluated.
The president of The Florida Bar now will seek applicants for the inaugural nine-member certification committee for each new area. For more information, please visit The Florida Bar Web site at Floridabar.org/certification or contact The Florida Bar’s Legal Specialization & Education Department at (850) 561-5842.
— Courtesy Florida Bar News