Consumers in California, like a handful of other states, are benefited because the California Bar Association has created a rigorous test for a select group of its attorneys to be recognized as certified legal specialists.
To achieve that coveted certified specialist designation, an attorney must have practiced for a specified amount of years, must pass a “second bar exam” in the attorney’s area of specialty, must get recommendations from fellow attorneys and from judges, and must demonstrate that he or she has done the required various tasks such as long trials, short hearings, negotiated settlements, etc.
At the Law & Mediation Firm of Klueck and Hoppes APC, both of the partners and other firm attorneys are certified specialists. The firm specializes in all types of family law matters. This area of law is highly technical and requires a tremendous knowledge base about an abundance of legal topics including, but not limited to, laws about taxes, business formation, domestic violence and child development. Given the volume of content required to zealously represent our clients, several of our attorneys have gone above and beyond the minimum education required to practice family law and have obtained a board certification in the area of family law. This special board certification increases our clients’ trust and confidence that we are representing them with the highest level of family law services and expertise.
An attorney can advertise that he or she is board certified only if they have been certified by the State Bar of California. The attorney must commit to mastering the legal concepts specific to her area of specialty.
As mentioned earlier, once the attorney has passed the certified specialist exam, he or she can then file a post-exam application for certification. This application requires that the attorney “demonstrate a high level of experience in the specialty area by meeting specific task and experience requirements.” Additionally, an attorney must also complete a minimum of 45 hours of continuing education in the specialty area. Finally, the attorney must “receive favorable evaluations from other attorneys and judges.”
As a result of the additional work required to become board certified specialist, only a small percentage of attorneys complete this process. A figure from 2011 reported that less than 3 percent of all attorneys in California possess a board certification.
At Klueck and Hoppes APC, we are a fairly large family law firm with over 15 attorneys who are ready to serve you. We recognize that everyone’s background is unique and thus we employ attorneys of diverse age and ethnicity. We have attorneys who speak Arabic, English, Chaldean, German, Hebrew, and Spanish with the intent of enabling our clients to feel comfortable discussing their intimate legal issues with their attorney.
We understand that our clients are trusting us to provide them with up-to-date knowledge of the law and to be able to advise them on how to proceed given the facts specific to their individual case. We know that there are many attorneys from whom our clients can choose to guide them through their legal matters and do not take the privilege of representing our clients lightly. Helping others is our passion, and, as such, we are committed to providing our clients with the very highest level of service.
To schedule a consultation with Family Law San Diego, please call our office at (619) 577-4900. We are here for you!
