California Legal Specialists

Welcome to the country's first legal certification program, which offers attorneys the opportunity to demonstrate high competence through evaluations by a panel of experts in one of 11 areas of law practice and in 11 additional areas through our certifying partners.

Consumers

Find certified legal specialists in your county. For options to search by languages spoken or geography, visit the attorney search at www.calbar.ca.gov and choose "Advanced Search."

Examinees Who Took the 2011 Examination and Those Thinking of Applying in the Future

Thank you to all examinees who took the Legal Specialization Examination on Oct. 25, 2011.

Results letters were mailed via U.S. Mail on February 28, 2012 via First Class U.S. Mail. Results letters will be mailed to the address applicants provided when registering, or to an updated address that was provided directly to the legal specialization department. The letter also contains a handout providing information on next steps for candidates. Examinees may also visit the legal specialty area of their choice at left for more infomration.

No results will be given over the phone, e-mail or fax. No public list of examinees or results will be posted at any time on this website or elsewhere.

The next step after passing the examination will be to file a post-exam application. Sample post-exam applications are found on the individual specialty pages under Specialty Areas. More information about this process will be included in all successful result letters.

Candidates will have until April 25, 2013 to file the post examination application.

The next Legal Specialization Examination is scheduled for Tuesday, October 22, 2013. Those entering their third year of practice in the certified specialty area by the fall of 2013 will be eligible to register for the examination. Candidates can start preparing the other portions of the application right away by vising the legal specialty area pages on the left hand side of the screen to learn more about experience, education and reference requirements.

Already Certified?

Fee statements have been mailed for 2012. The 2012 Annual Fee is $360 and is listed on your fee statement along with general bar dues. This is the second step of a two-step price increase instituted in 2011 and 2012. It is hoped that this fee level will be sufficient for some time. As you know, the program is non-profit and self-funding, and prior to this fee increase had not had a price increase in eighteen years.

Download the certified specialist logo and terms of use. Certified legal specialists are entitled to use this logo free of charge on their e-mail, letterhead, website, and other outreach materials.

Update your My State Bar Profile to add your firm website, photo and languages spoken. Certified specialists are automatically listed by their specialty on the State Bar website.

Order What Can A Certified Specialist Do for You? brochures, which include a place for you to include your own firm's business cards.

Search for a list of approved educational providers in your area of specialty.

Want to be on the radio? Bay Area certified specialists can audition to be part of the Your Legal Rights radio call-in radio panel. Contact LegalSpec@calbar.ca.gov if interested.

Access Recertification Forms for all certified specialties.

Educational Providers

Apply to offer Legal Specialization Credits and MCLE.

News You Can Use

Don't miss radio program KALW 91.7FM "Your Legal Rights," featuring certified specialists from around the state every Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. Not in San Francisco? Check on the program via podcast www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_detail.php?siteId=89697145.
Have an outreach idea for the legal specialization program? We are constantly looking for new ways to inform the public and attorneys about the significant benefits of choosing or becoming a certified legal specialist. E-mail us at legalspec@calbar.ca.gov.
The Immigration & Nationality Law certification program has updated rules to better support the practice of business immigration attorneys. See Advisory Commission Past Chair Jonathan Montag's blog post.
Refer a specialist. Search by county, city or ZIP code for a certified specialist in your area.
Submit articles for the Legal Specialization Digest of up to 500 words to LegalSpec@calbar.ca.gov.
The California Board of Certification has released the names of the first class of Admiralty and Maritime law specialists. Click here view the full announcement. Note that an alternative to the examination is available to those attorneys who begin the process by July 24, 2012. Learn more here.