Hey it’s Marcus again. I want to talk to you a little bit about specialization. You know the world is becoming more and more particular and more and more specialized. If you go to a doctor nowadays they’re going to send you to a specialist. There’s a whole laundry list of them right, well it might surprise you to know that lawyers are really no different.
The law is becoming more and more specialized. For example if you get a ticket or if you got a DUI, you would hire a lawyer that handled criminal matters and that lawyer would probably specialize in criminal law. You wouldn’t hire a general practitioner and you most certainly wouldn’t hire me if you were charged with a crime because I don’t know anything about that. The last 28 years I’ve done essentially the same area of law, personal injury. If you get into an accident or someone that you know or you love gets into an accident,anyone that’s licensed in Florida can literally do the job. The question is, is that what they do every day how often do they do it and how specialized are they?
Trial lawyers or civil trial lawyers are recognized by the Florida Bar as a certification and a specialty all unto themselves. The Florida Bar has a specific test and a specific criteria that permits lawyers to say that they specialize in a particular area of the law. In civil trial board certification it requires an additional test. It requires a certain number of judges to vouch for you that requires certain lawyers that have tried cases against you to file affidavits. Board certification in Florida is a pretty big deal. it’s pretty hard to do. I don’t have the statistics but a very low percentage of lawyers in Florida are actually board-certified.
If you’re looking for a lawyer to represent you in an accident or an injury case look to see whether or not they’re board-certified. Look to see whether or not they specialize in that area of the law and be careful. It doesn’t mean if they don’t specialize in it.That doesn’t mean if they’re not board certified they’re not capable, doesn’t mean they’re not competent but it’s a good starting point to see whether or not they focus on that area of the law.
You know our firm specializes in personal injury. I’m a board-certified trial lawyer, I have been for many years. We have nothing but lawyers here that work exclusively in personal injury, workers compensation, Social Security. We handle nothing but injury and disability cases. If you have a legal question or legal need make sure you’ve got the lawyer that that’s their bread and butter. That’s what they do.
Yesterday we got 30 phone calls from individuals who had a legal problem and needed help. In truth only about 15 of those 30 callers had problems that I can really help them with. The other 15 need a lawyer that’s trained and routinely handles other matters. For example, someone called yesterday and they were wrongfully terminated from a job. Well wrongful termination is an area of the law that requires expertise and training. I’m literally trained to do it but I haven’t handled a wrongful termination case ever. I could do it but I won’t. It’s not a good idea.
I do a better service by helping that individual get to a lawyer that does that every day. If you want to learn more about board certification you can do it on our website. You can learn from the Florida Bar. Their website is Florida Bar dot org so if you have questions give me a call. Until next time I’m Marcus Michles at Michles & Booth.
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