The TBLS is overseen by twelve members appointed by the President of the Texas State Bar and approved by its Board of Directors. It has authority over all matters related to legal specialization in Texas and is subject to the continuing jurisdiction of the Texas Supreme Court. [1] [5] The most important thing to remember when choosing a lawyer is to find someone you feel comfortable with both as a person and as a professional. A good place to start is to get a recommendation from someone whose judgment you trust, such as a family member, friend, business partner, teacher, or neighbor. Once you have a lawyer in mind, review their qualifications: education, legal experience, areas of expertise, previous clients, and background. Finally, meet the lawyer in person. By the end of this meeting, you should have a good idea of whether you have found the right person for your cause. Rocky Dhir: Okay. I didn`t know many of them.
I thought it might be 10 or 12, but there are 25. Are there certain areas that — well, I think that raises two questions? The first is: Are there areas that are the most common areas of board certification that you have come across, the ones that are board certified apply most often? We have about 1400 certificates. This is followed by family law with approximately 870 certificates certified by the board of directors, criminal law with 836, civil procedure law with 828 and real estate law with 808, estate and estate planning with 695. In reviewing our applications for certification this year, we have a total of 552 applications for certification. And the top six areas of expertise with the highest number of applications this year are family law with 60, criminal law with 56 applicants, child protection law with 56 applicants, civil law with 45 applicants, estate planning and estate law with 45 applicants and real estate law with 41 applicants. When choosing a law firm, make sure it is run by a personal injury specialist. If you need a will or integrate your new businesses, choose lawyers who specialize in these areas. And if you`ve been hurt through someone else`s fault, choose a law firm run by a board of attorneys certified in personal injury proceedings. Leo Figueroa: That`s a good question. And what I would say about that, Rocky, is that these are the areas of specialization with the largest number of board-certified lawyers in personal injury procedural law.
Leo Figueroa: It fluctuates approximately. I think it`s probably about 7200 people who hold 8400 certificates. The difference between these numbers is the fact that a number of our certified lawyers have more than one certificate of special competence. You can have one in civil procedure law and another in personal injury law. None of the disciplinary rules in the Texas Code of Professional Responsibility explicitly prohibit the publication of information about non-legal degrees obtained. EC 2-10 deals with advertising and allows visits to state universities, colleges and law schools, with date of graduation and subsequent graduation; Areas of study are not included. However, there is no previous notice prohibiting the inclusion of areas of study, and there would be no valid reason to exclude this information, as it would not be misleading and could be useful in choosing a lawyer. Similarly, there is nothing in the Code of Professional Responsibility to indicate that the lawyer is prohibited from listing the attestations of nationally recognized chambers in non-legal matters. The Committee sees no valid reason to prohibit such publication. However, in order to avoid misleading the public and presenting itself as an expert in legal fields related to non-legal certification, information should be presented in clear factual terms without description or elaboration. Memberships in academic or non-legal professional associations or societies should only be listed with the official name of the organization. And non-legal certifications should be stated without comment.
A lawyer may not impersonate a specialist unless permitted under Articles 2-104 and 2-101(C) of the DR. RD 2-104 deals with patent and trademark attorneys and does not apply to a description such as “workers` compensation – silicosis, lead poisoning and other occupational diseases”. RD 2-101(C) allows for the description of a practice, but requires an accompanying explanation in relation to each area. If the attorney is promoting an area of law in which he has a certificate of special competence from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, he must specify: “Board Certified, (specific area of specialization) – Texas Board of Legal Specialization”. If it is not certified by the board of directors, it must say, “Not certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.” If the board has not recognized the specialty and the field does not fall within the scope of one of the recognized fields, the attorney must print that last statement and may further state, “No designation has been made by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization for a certificate of special competency in that field.” The hypothetical description listed above, while not a recognized area of specialization, falls within the recognized area of personal injury procedural law. In such a situation, the Committee recommends the following guidelines. If the lawyer is accredited in the field of subsumption, he must indicate this, but must also include the caveat: “Workers` compensation (or whatever the subfield) is included in the bodily injury procedure. However, no designation was made as such in the Workers` Compensation Act. If the lawyer is not accredited in the area of recognized subsumption, he or she must indicate that he or she is “not certified in the procedural law of bodily injury, which would include workers` compensation.” Leo Figueroa: Rocky, this is regulated by rules 7.1 and 7.2 of the Code of Ethics. And essentially, that means, first, that lawyers, whatever they do to communicate their practice and promote that practice, you have to be truthful. And there can be nothing wrong with that communication. Second, a lawyer, if you have a lawyer`s license, you can practice in any field you want, and they are free to do that.
You do not need to be certified by the Board of Directors. Third, a lawyer cannot say that he is board certified or that he is a member of an organization whose name is, which implies that he has special expertise unless he is certified by TBLS or by a TBLS accredited body. Overall, under the disciplinary rules I just mentioned, a lawyer is certainly free to say that I am focusing my practice on that particular area, criminal law. I spend 100% of my time on criminal law. I am a great criminal lawyer. They can say all these things, but they cannot say that they are board certified or members of an organization, as I suggested, whose name implies that they have particular expertise. And these studies have shown that members of the public when two lawyers are shown for the possible hiring of these lawyers. The vast majority of these people in these studies chose the board-certified lawyer.
There is something about the language of board certification that inspires confidence in potential customers. The thing I always compare it to, although there are certainly differences, if you need to have your knee replaced, go to a board-certified orthopedic surgeon. You often hear the concept of board certification in a medical context, and I think that`s one of the things that encourages clients to consult a certified lawyer. Rocky Dhir: So we talked about CLE to some extent. Let`s talk about this exam, this exam, because I thought the bar exam was the last exam I would have to take. But now tell me that if I want to be certified by the board, there is a test. Tell us about it. Leo Figueroa: Yes. And the best way to proceed if someone considering board certification is to tbls.org on our website, and it lists the 25 areas of specialization, as well as the requirements and standards that a candidate must meet to obtain certification in any of those 25 specialties. Rocky Dhir: What about new specialties? Are we talking about extending beyond 25 years? And if so, how do you decide what the board`s new certification areas will be? Leo Figueroa: There is and it is a rigorous test. And maybe the best way to talk about it is through review. And it`s a six-hour exam, three hours in the morning, three hours in the afternoon.
The three-hour exam in the morning consists of three essays. The afternoon consists of 100 multiple-choice questions. We recruited lawyers in each of the 25 areas of expertise that design the review. So they write the essays. You design multiple-choice questions. And these members of the examination board evaluate the tests, grade them anonymously. They don`t know who they`re rating to. Leo Figueroa: Board certification is important for several reasons. First, and I think most importantly, it is an independent and objective public validation of your experience, knowledge and expertise in your area of expertise. In addition, it distinguishes you from other lawyers working in the same area of law. This gives the customer confidence in your abilities and the respect of your colleagues.
It also encourages referrals of lawyers, as many lawyers, even for their own protection, prefer to refer cases outside their area of expertise to lawyers certified in a particular area of law. And it`s also a valuable professional marketing and networking tool. For example, the TBLS website offers potential clients and tbls.org referring lawyers an easy way to identify a licensed attorney in a specific area of law in a specific geographic area.