My wife and I are headed to Phoenix today, this time for for a Board of Directors meeting for the National Board of Trial Advocacy. I was in Boston for a committee meeting of the group two weeks ago; this meeting is our annual mid-winter meeting customarily held (surprise!) at a location with warm weather. Our annual meeting will be held in Seattle in July.
One of the items on the agenda at the meeting is the potential adoption of a new “civil litigation advocacy” certification. This certification, if adopted, would be available to lawyers with substantial experience in litigation but who lack sufficient experience to receive civil trial certification.
Recognizing civil ligitation as a speciality is controversial, but in my opinion there is a real need to recognize demonstrated competence for ethical lawyers who have a litigation practice but lack sufficient face time in front of a jury. I drafted the original set of standards for the proposed certification, but Barry Nace of Washington, D.C. has improved upon them.
We will also be considering a substantial revision to our bylaws to reflect the name change of our corporate entity – the National Board of Legal Specialty Certificiation – and the new structure of our organization.
Do you have certification as a civil trial specialist? If not, you should. And if you currently lack the experience to qualify you should document your experience as you go along to make it easier to complete your application when you have the required experience. Read about the standards for certification here.