Choosing a provider for any type of service comes with a fair amount of weighing out educational background, experience, and reviews from personal contacts and/or online references. For example, when choosing a pediatrician for your child you probably spent time asking friends with children who they preferred in your area, looking up qualifications of these various doctors, and perhaps even visiting one or two to “feel out” their bedside manner before making a final decision. Choosing an attorney comes with the same need for security in the quality of service, since you often get just once chance at getting the results you desire from your case. Finding the resources to verify a lawyer’s level of professionalism and effectiveness though can require a bit more effort, unless you know where to look.
Fortunately for residents here in Florida, there is a way to know, without a doubt, that they are selecting the very best legal representative in a given field. All they have to do is check for board certification by the Florida Bar. What does that mean?
Being Board Certified by the Florida Bar means an attorney has been evaluated closely, with special knowledge and proficiency in various areas of law being taken into account, along with ethics and professionalism in practice. This evaluation requires that an attorney has met the following minimum requirements before he or she will be considered for board certification:
- must have practiced law for a MINIMUM of 5 years
- must have extensive involvement and experience in the field of law for which a lawyer is seeking certification
- must pass a peer review which examines competence in the chosen specialty field, personal character, ethics, and professionalism
- must satisfy continuing education requirements in the chosen certification area
- must pass a 6-hour exam which includes multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions. This exam is graded by a committee of Board Certified attorneys in the specific field.
It’s worth mentioning that the above list consists of the minimum requirements to be Board Certified. There are 27 certification fields that offer board certification, and each has its own additional requirements. Attorneys can be Board Certified in more than one specific field if he or she chooses to significantly boost their credibility in their chosen area of law.
Sessums Law Group has not one, but two attorneys who are certified in their field through the Florida Bar. Mark Sessums is double Board Certified in both Civil Law and Family Law. Let Sessums Law Group STAND FOR YOU and get the results you need in your case. When you need a competent, honest lawyer, we are ready and waiting for your call.