The Gazette 1980

GAZETTE

APRIL 1980

Law, Probate and Trust Law, and Bankruptcy Law. The

Family Law standards have been adopted and the Family

Law Advisory Commission is now drafting an

examination which should be given in April of 1980. The

standards for Probate and Trust Law are now being

revised following public hearings. The standards for

Labour and Bankruptcy Law are now in abeyance

pending further study of whether or not the impact of a

certification programme in these fields in the near future

will be of sufficient importance to the public and the

profession to justify the cost at the present time.

An Advisory Commission of noted California trial

lawyers is currently engaged in the creation of standards

in the field of Civil Trial Law. This is an interesting experi-

ment in view of the unusual diversity of skills and

knowledge involved in the breadth of the subject matter.

Quite possibly the field will have to be broken into a series

of subspecialities for certification purposes.

Although the California PilQt Programme in Legal

Specialisation is the first of its kind, it no longer stands

alone. Shortly after California initiated its effort, the State

of Texas began a certification programme. Florida

recently implemented a certification plan similar to that in

California. Other States involved in plans directed toward

the certification of legal specialists, as shown by the most

recent statistics available, are:

Alaska

Missouri

Arizona

New Hampshire

Arkansas

New Jersey

Colorado

New York

Connecticut

Ohio

Hawaii

Pennsylvania

Indiana

Rhode Island

Iowa

Tennessee

Kansas

Virginia

Maryland

Washington

Massachusetts

There is currently under way an evaluation of the

certification programme in California for the purpose of

ascertaining whether it is having the salutory effects of

protecting and assisting the public and upgrading the

profession which were the goals of the original Special

Committee set up to study^ legal specialisation some

thirteen years ago. A master plan has been drawn

projecting the certification programme into approxi-

mately twenty fields of law by 1985 should the evalua-

tion conclude that the programme is worthwhile. Obvi-

ously, should new fields be included, the standards for

each must remain flexible, and those administering the

plan must recognise that the programme is an evolving

one and that evolution is the successful adaptation to a

changing profession in a changing world.

*Mr Corison has lectured throughout the United States on legal

specialization and remains interested in consulting with groups from

any area concerning certification of legal specialists.

This article was published in the November 1979 issue of the

International Bar Journal

and is reprinted here by kind permission of

the International Bar Association.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

W. King Ltd. wish it known that following the closure of Messrs. Donaldsons

Ltd. all letter heading dies held by that company have been passed to us for

safe keeping in our die stamping department.

W. King Ltd. is now the only stationery company in Ireland with machines

capable of producing

REAL DIE STAMPED

headings.

Should you request Messrs. Kings in writing to do so, your die will be

returned to you.

Your die will otherwise be stored in a proper manner pending your

instruction to supply your next order for

REAL DIE STAMPED

stationery.

If you require headings urgently please instruct us at once and we will give

your order prompt attention.

THIS NOTICE IS INSERTED BY W. KING LTD.

LAW STAT IONERS AND PRINTERS

1 8, EUSTACE STREET

DUBLIN 2