Scott Leonard Certified Civil Trial Attorney  

Need to hire an attorney? Why you should consider hiring a Certified Civil Trial Attorney.

Selecting the right attorney can be a difficult task for anyone. With all of the choices available, how could you be sure that you choose the right one? To make the selection process easier on consumers, the Supreme Court of New Jersey through the Board of Attorney Certification designed a program for attorneys in certified trial practices.

The title, Certified Civil Trial Attorney, is given to attorneys by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. These attorneys demonstrate higher levels of experience, education, knowledge, and skill in the civil trial practice of law. The program was designed to help consumers find lawyers who have been recognized for having superior levels of competence in specialized areas of law.

The Supreme Court certifies attorneys in 4 areas:

• Civil Law
• Criminal Law
• Matrimonial Law
• Workers Compensation Law

In order to be considered for the designation, an attorney must meet the following criteria:

• He/she must be in good standing of the New Jersey bar for a minimum of five years.
• He/she must have an excellent reputation in the legal community.
• The attorney is required to submit a list of attorneys and judges that will attest to the attorney’s integrity, intelligence, and ability.
• He/she must pass a rigorous examination in trial practice.

The Certified Civil Trial certification is valid for five years. After the five years lapses, the attorney must apply for recertification. The Supreme Court of New jersey allows Certified Trial Attorneys to use the New Jersey Supreme Court Certified Attorney seal in newspaper and magazine advertisements, law journals, the yellow pages, on websites, on the radio and television, letterhead, business cards and other advertisements.

The certification is earned by only a few attorneys. As of February 2005, out of 80,214 active lawyers in New Jersey, 1583 currently hold board certification.

This information was obtained from The New Jersey Board of Attorney Certification.

If you are interested in obtaining more information on the Certified Civil Attorney process or you have any other questions regarding certification, please send questions to:

Board on Attorney Certification P.O. Box 970 Trenton, NJ 08625-0970 (609) 984-3077

http://www.njbac.org