Is Your Attorney Board Certified?

The Florida Supreme Court established Board Certification in 1982 to help the public identify attorneys who are specialists in various legal areas. It is The Florida Bar’s highest level of recognition of the experience and competency of lawyers in legal areas approved for certification. Board Certified attorneys are the only lawyers permitted to identify themselves as “Florida Bar Board Certified“. In order to qualify for Board Certification an attorney must at a minimum have practiced 5 years, show proof of substantial involvement in the area of specialty, pass a written exam, pass peer review for competency, character, professionalism and ethics and meet continuing education requirements. In addition to these minimum requirements each certification area may have additional higher standards that must be met. An attorney must recertify every 5 years. In order to become recertified they must meet requirements similar to these for initial certification.

One area of Board Certification is civil trial law. The Florida Bar defines “Civil trial law” as the practice of law dealing with litigation of civil controversies. In addition to handling the actual pretrial and trial process, “civil trial law” includes evaluating, handling and resolving civil matters prior to a lawsuit. Among meeting other requirements, an attorney who is board certified in civil trial law has tried a substantial number of cases and handled many more civil actions prior to a jury trial. Since Board Certification recognizes an attorney’s special knowledge, skills and proficiency, it is an important and valuable qualification – Is your Attorney handling your personal injury or wrongful death case Board Certified in Civil Trial Law?