Todd Julian describes the process of becoming a certified specialist in the Arizona Bar.
Transcript:
The State Bar has a process for certifying specialists. It's usually the top one or two percent in any particular field, whether it's real estate, personal injury, or tax. We have a large number of our lawyers that are certified specialists in that field. That's a very rigorous process that requires a certain number of years of practice. You have to take a separate bar exam.
In my field, in personal injury and wrongful death litigation, to be a certified specialist, you have to have a certain number of trials under your belt. For me, for example, before I was even qualified to take the bar exam to become a certified specialist, I had to have 25 jury trials under my belt to get the number of points to be able to sit for the bar exam to become a certified specialist. Then, the State Bar has a rigorous process of peer review from other certified specialists and people through the bar to make sure that everybody that meets that designation qualifies for it. Then, you're recertified every five years.