WORKERS’ COMPENSATION LAW CERTIFICATION STANDING COMMITTEE POLICIES 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE MEMBERS DEFINITIONS CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION PEER REVIEW SUBSTANTIAL INVOLVEMENT EXAMINATION PROFESSIONAL ETHICS & COMPETENCE RECERTIFICATION
100 1.01 1.02
ADMINISTRATION At least 2 committee members shall review each application filed. The committee shall discuss, as a whole, any questionable applications before a final determination is made. COMMITTEE MEMBERS Committee members shall make a valid effort to attend all committee meetings and or conference calls. Any conflict or absence should be reported to the staff liaison and/or the Chair. During application and exam review, committee meetings will be limited to members only. DEFINITIONS See Rule 6-11.2, Rules Regulating The Florida Bar. CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION Course Approval Standards (a) Advanced An advanced CLE course should challenge the intellect of and/or convey new material and information to an active practitioner who devotes 30% or more of his/her time to practice in the field, has done so for at least 5 years and who possesses skills which colleagues recognize as above average and which would qualify him/her as a specialist. As a threshold matter, the course must require and
200 2.01
2.02
300 3.01 400 4.01
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reflect substantial analysis and preparation and be of such quality so as to enhance the proficiency of a Board Certified Workers' Compensation attorney. (1) Courses submitted for full credit toward workers' compensation practice certification must meet the criteria of advanced CLE as defined in 4.01(a).
(b)
Intermediate A course dealing with trial practice procedures and or substantive law which is determined to be at an intermediate level, shall be given 50-75% of the maximum number of credit hours available to the course. Note: It is the position of the committee that the purpose of the 50-75% range is to allow flexibility in awarding credit to intermediate courses determined to be of greater benefit to a board certified workers' compensation lawyer.
(c)
Basic Basic courses shall not be eligible for workers' compensation certification credit.
(d)
General No workers' compensation credit shall be awarded to courses dealing with law office economics and or management.
4.02
Credit for Other CLE Activities (a) Lectures Satisfactory performance as a lecturer on workers' compensation law in an approved CLE seminar may entitle an attorney to credit. (1) Lecturer shall mean lecturer, workshop discussion leader or panel member in a seminar or institute. Outlines and other materials are required for credit review in connection with the lecture presentation. Repeating a lecture at one or more locations shall not be a basis for additional credit. To qualify for credit, a lecturer's topic, scope and material should meet the advanced CLE standard as defined in 4.01(a). In no event may the amount of credit awarded exceed 40% of the total hours required for certification or recertification.
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
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(6)
Credit shall be calculated for the preparation and presentation time as follows: (a) Lecturing at basic seminars awards 3 hours of credit for each 50 minutes of lecture time. Lecturing at intermediate and advanced seminars awards 5 hours of credit for each 50 minutes of lecture time. Additional credit for extraordinary effort may be granted by the committee at its discretion.
(b)
(b)
Teaching Teaching workers' compensation courses in an approved law school or other graduate level program may earn an attorney credit. (1) Credit shall be calculated according to the following formula: 4 times the university assigned hour per quarter or 5 times the university assigned hour per semester. Graduate non-law and undergraduate courses shall not be considered for workers' compensation certification credit.
(2)
(c)
Writing Credit for writing articles published by The Florida Bar, and credit for articles, books and chapters published by sources other than The Florida Bar, may be granted credit only after publication. (1) The amount of credit awarded will be based upon the percentage of preparation time, quality, originality, and scope of publication determined to have enhanced the contributor's proficiency in workers' compensation law. No single publication approved for credit may exceed 25% of the total hours required for initial certification or recertification. Where a publication has more than 1 author, full credit may be awarded to each author or divided among them in a manner consistent with the facts presented by all the authors.
(2)
(3)
(d)
Steering Committee Membership No credit may be awarded for service as a steering committee member unless that service contributed substantially to an attorney's knowledge of workers' compensation.
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(e)
Individual Study Individual study may be granted credit through the use of audio tapes, CDs, video tapes, films or DVDs approved for workers' compensation certification credit. Credit for these activities shall be the same as that given the live presentation. (1) No more than 50% of the total hours required for initial certification or recertification shall be obtained through individual study.
500 5.01
PEER REVIEW References (a) Rule 6-11.3(b) of the Workers' Compensation Standards provides the applicant shall submit the names and addresses of at least 4 lawyers, not associates or partners, and 1 judge, as references to attest to the applicant's involvement in workers' compensation law. (1) Staff shall send out a minimum of 2 additional "blind" references taken from the trials listed on Exhibit "B". One reference shall be an opposing counsel and the other reference shall be a Judge of Compensation Claims.
600 6.01
SUBSTANTIAL INVOLVEMENT Every applicant must demonstrate substantial involvement in the practice of workers' compensation law, as defined in Rules 6-11.3, Rules Regulating The Florida Bar. EXAMINATION All initial applicants must pass an examination administered by the Workers' Compensation Certification Committee under the auspices of the BLSE. (a) It is required that at least one committee member be available, over the phone or in person, throughout the duration of the exam. Committee members may alternate turns. No examination questions will be released.
700 7.01
(b) 800 8.01 900 9.01
PROFESSIONAL ETHICS & COMPETENCE Every application shall be processed in accordance with BLSE Policies 2.06 and 2.07. RECERTIFICATION To be eligible for recertification, an applicant must comply with the Workers' Compensation Certification requirements set forth in rule 6-11.5 Recertification.
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