What Is A Board Certified Attorney
What is a Board Certified Attorney?
A "board certified" attorney is an attorney who has been certified within the attorney's particular area of practice by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. The Board is a part of the State Bar of Texas, which is the entity who licenses all attorneys to practice law in the State of Texas.
What is required to become a board certified attorney in Family Law?
The certification process for attorneys takes two steps, the application and a written examination. The attorney must initiate the application process, but unless the attorney meets the minimum requirements the attorney will not be permitted to sit for the written examination.
What are the basic qualifications to become a board certified attorney?
To become "Board Certified" in a specialty area, an attorney must have:
A. Been licensed to practice law for at least five years
B. Devoted a required percentage of practice to a specialty area for at least three years
C. Handled a wide variety of matters in the area to demonstrate experience and involvement
D. Attended continuing education seminars regularly to keep legal training up to date
E. Been evaluated by fellow lawyers and judges
F. Passed a 6-hour written examination
What are the basic qualifications to become a board certified attorney in Family Law?
In addition to the above noted requirements, a board certified family law attorney must have:
EXPERIENCE
The attorney, prior to application, must have participated as lead counsel for a party in within the three years immediately preceding application --
A. A total of at least nine contested final trials or binding arbitrations in Texas family law cases in which issues were determined by a finder of fact in a court of record, excluding default judgments. At least four of the trials must have involved issues of property division and at least four of the trials must have involved the determination of modification of child custody; and
B. At least thirty contested Texas family law matters involving issues pertaining to: 1) The marriage relationship; 2) Children in relation to the family; 3) Protective orders and family violence or The parent-child relationship and suits affecting the parent-child relationship.
In addition to the above, the attorney must also meet two of the following three requirements, within the immediately preceding three years:
A. Participated in two Texas civil jury trials at the county court at law or district court level, with one involving family law, submitted to the jury for decision;
B. Participated in one Texas civil appeal involving family law, in which briefs were filed by that attorney;
C. Conducted or participated in at least ten Texas mediations involving family law either as an attorney representing a litigant or as a mediator.
An attorney may be permitted to substitute unusual or exceptional experience for one or more of the specific area requirements stated above.
REFERENCES
In addition to the above, the attorney must also:
1. Provide at least ten references that the attorney has personally dealt with in a family law matter the immediately preceding 3 years. Five of the ten should be the attorney dealt with in a family law matter who are not current partners or associates. Five of the ten should: Three Texas attorneys; One Texas attorney who was the opposing counsel either in the litigation, hearing or negotiation of family law matter; and One judge of any court of record in Texas before whom the attorney appeared as an advocate in a family law matter.
2. The additional five references should be representative list of judges and/or attorneys that the applicant dealt with in a Texas family law matter.
EDUCATION
In addition to the above, the attorney must also show the attorney has continued proficiency by attending legal education classes after becoming licensed to practice law, by showing the completion of a minimum of sixty hours of continuing legal education in the specialty area with a maximum of thirty hours per year, which may include up to five hours of self-study per calendar year.
CONDUCT
The attorney must disclose if the attorney has:
1. Suffered any disciplinary sanction, including disbarment, resignation, private reprimand, public reprimand, order of rehabilitation, probated suspension, active suspension or combined suspension
2. Received a finding of "just cause" from a grievance committee of the State Bar of Texas or a similar designated entity in another state that would tend to show the attorney has violated some canon of professional conduct
3. Disclosed if the attorney has been indicted, charged or convicted of some type of criminal conduct (whether deferred or not) or fined for a serious crime
4. Disclosed if the attorney has been sued for malpractice or other private civil action alleging attorney misconduct, which had concluded against the attorney by settlement, dismissal or judgment within five years preceding the application. This requirement also includes a finding by a court that the attorney provided ineffective assistance of counsel in a criminal matter.
INVOLVEMENT
In addition, the attorney must show that during each of the three years immediately preceding the application, the attorney devoted a minimum of thirty-five percent of time in the attorney's practice dealing with Texas family law matters.
What is involved in the examination process?
After payment of the required fees, the attorney must prepare for a written examination. The examination of the applicant test's within the specialty area covering knowledge, skills and subject matter within the particular discipline. The examination process takes all day testing on the applicable subject matter. At the conclusion of the written examination, the attorney must receive a passing score. Examinations are administered only one day each year.
How many attorneys are board certified in Family Law?
The State Bar of Texas, Department of Research and Analysis, reported on December 31, 2008 that there are 83,713 attorneys licensed to practice law in Texas and 75,087 of those are within the State of Texas. Of all licensed Texas attorneys, 6,995 are board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in some area of legal specialization and 6,898 are "in state." Of all licensed Texas attorneys, 4,892 belong to the Family Law Section of the State Bar. Of all licensed Texas attorneys only 706 are board certified in "Family Law" and of that total, 701 are "in state."
