Tuesday, September 10, 2019

You call yourself a specialist?

If you're a certified specialist in California, you probably know that you're supposed to refer to yourself as follows:
Rule 3.126 of the Legal Specialization program rules states that a certified specialist should refer to him/herself as certified by "The State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization."
At least, that's what the Advertising webpage for the specialization program shows (here). However, Rule 3.126 was amended in May, and no longer uses the term "Board of Legal Specialization," presumably since that Board is being reformed/replaced, i.e., "The Legal Specialization program is now administered through the Admissions Information Management System (AIMS) community." So, current Rule 3.126 reads as follows:
Rule 3.126 Designation as certified specialistCertification may be indicated by “Certified by The State Bar of California,” the logo of the certified specialization program, or both. Certification is individual and may not be attributed to a firm. Anyone whose certification has been revoked or suspended may not claim to be certified specialist. (Rule 3.126 adopted as Rule 3.123 effective January 1, 2014; renumbered effective July 24, 2015; amended effective May 17, 2019.)
Therefore, you may want to change your email signature, business cards, etc. On the other hand, you are also authorized to use the "Legal Specialization Program's logo" (aka the Bear Logo) -- which itself still uses the "California Board of Legal Specialization" wording! Eventually this will all get sorted out....