by Kim Ashby, Chair of BLSE

The Florida Bar Board of Legal Education and Specialization is launching an active year of promoting and perfecting the areas of Board Certification to best benefit members of The Florida Bar, new and experienced. Here are the fast facts of what Board Certification brings to the table:

• 27 Legal Specialty Areas:

First Cycle: (Application deadline – August 31) Adoption; Admiralty and Maritime; Appellate Practice; Aviation; Civil Trial; Condominium and Planned Development; Education; Elder; Immigration and Nationality; International; Labor and Employment; Marital and Family; Tax; Second Cycle: (Application deadline – October 31) Antitrust; Business Litigation; City, County and Local Government; Construction; Criminal Appellate; Criminal Trial; Health; Intellectual Property; International Litigation and Arbitration; Juvenile; Real Estate; State and Federal Government and Administrative Practice; Wills, Trusts and Estates; Workers Compensation

• Business Development

The Florida Bar website separately lists the lawyers who are board certified in categories according to legal specialty area and venue which automatically puts these lawyers on the short list for consumers of legal services looking for lawyers with expertise. Increasingly, general counsel are required to first find board-certified lawyers to handle their matters because they have separately qualified for the area of specialty designation by passing an exam, receiving favorable peer and judicial review, and meeting the extra continuing legal education requirements. Approximately 7 % of the active Bar members have achieved Board Certification status.

• Florida’s Board Certification Program is One of the Largest and Most Respected

Of the various states which have instituted a board certification program through its state-run Bar Associations, Florida is one of the largest and most respected, and the leadership and innovation Florida’s Board Certification Program year after year is often replicated by other states. BLSE is in constant forward motion to insure that all areas of specialty that the membership sees as deserving of special recognition are represented.

• “Evaluated for Professionalism and Tested for Expertise”

This byline for Florida Board Certification is a pledge that the designation of “Board Certified” or “B.C.S.” means that the attorney has met all of the qualifications of The Florida Bar, according to the Rules approved by the Florida Supreme Court.

• Elevate Your Personal Practice

Beyond the benefits listed above that can add to the bottom line or The Bar in general, consider the educational boost that comes from the extra study, care and community of fellow Board Certified attorneys. Most Board Certified lawyers would share that the real value in being  Board Certified comes from the acceleration of your knowledge of the law in  your specialty, vaulting you  into the realms of the deans of the law practice. All this awaits if you are not yet Board Certified.  Make this your year to get started down this exalted road.

For more information on certification please visit our webpage at: https://www.floridabar.org/about/cert/cert-list/ or call the Legal Specialization and Education Department at (850) 561-5842