Family Law Board Certification
Sets Our Wake County Family Law Attorneys Apart
In North Carolina, focusing your law practice on one area of law and being an actual certified Specialist are two different things. A lawyer must be officially certified by the North Carolina State Bar’s Board of Legal Specialization in order to call himself or herself a Specialist in Family Law. Without such official certification, it is a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct (the code of lawyer ethics) for a lawyer to claim to be a family law “specialist” or to say that they “specialize” in family law.
At Montgomery Family Law, we are proud to say that two of our Wake County family law attorneys have demonstrated their skills and expertise in family law by earning Board Certification as Family Law Specialists by the N.C. State Bar. More than being just a challenge for ourselves to earn this distinction, achieving Board Certification has allowed us to better empower and guide our clients looking for legal help in all types of family law issues.
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Requirements to Achieve Board Certification
The Board of Legal Specialization was created in 1983 by the North Carolina State Bar (the official N.C. agency that licenses and regulates all N.C. lawyers). The Board was established to certify and recognize lawyers who have demonstrated a high level of proficiency in certain areas of the law. The Board of Legal Specialization began certifying lawyers as legal specialists in 1987. North Carolina Board Certification acts as a shining beacon to steer those looking for legal help towards attorneys that have demonstrated skill and expertise in a particular field of practice.
To become a N.C. Board Certified Family Law Specialist, the lawyer must:
Be licensed and in good standing to practice law in N.C.;
Be substantially involved in family law practice (averaging at least 600 hours per year, in the 5 years prior to applying for specialization);
Earn at least 45 hours of Continuing Legal Education credits in family law (in the 3 years prior to applying for specialization);
Receive positive peer references from at least 5 other lawyers or judges;
Complete an extensive (6 hours long) written examination with a passing grade.
Requirements to Maintain Board Certification
Board Certification is not a lifetime achievement. The Family Law Specialist must maintain high standards and substantial involvement in family law in order to maintain certification. Once every five years, the Family Law Specialist must be positively reviewed once again by at least five other lawyers or judges, as well as maintain good standing with the N.C. State Bar (without any pending disciplinary or administrative suspension or disbarment). Each year, on average, the Specialist must earn at least twelve hours of Continuing Legal Education (CLE) seminar hours in family law. This helps to ensure that the Family Law Specialist stays up to date on the most current developments in family law. The Specialist must also maintain substantial involvement in family law by working, on average, at least 600 hours per year in family law. If they have continued to meet these high standards, the Family Law Specialist can receive North Carolina Board Certification for another five years.
Our Board Certified Family Lawyers
Attorneys Scott Montgomery and Lynn Montgomery of Montgomery Family Law are both official North Carolina Board Certified Specialists in Family Law. When you bring your divorce or family law concerns to our Cary N.C. family law attorneys, you can trust that they will apply their substantial recognized skills to help you achieve the best possible results.
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