Appellate practice.

• Author: Whitney, E. Jonathan
• Position: Florida

On the surface, appellate practice seems to be a straightforward practice requiring knowledge of the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure and the federal appellate rules. When you look at the mosaic of authorities, however, it becomes much more complex. A Florida Bar Journal article put it directly: "[T]he transition of a case to and from the appellate court can quickly become a series of stumbling blocks." (1) The author elaborates: "Successfully getting a case to the appellate court begins by knowing how the case will proceed once it gets there." (2) In addition, successful appellate practice requires specialized oral and written advocacy skills.

Appellate certification provides a ready tool to enhance the practitioner's ability to successfully navigate the review of lower court decisions and to set the specialist apart from the rest. Florida Bar members who are involved substantially in appellate work should consider appellate certification. (3)

The advanced knowledge, skill level, and professionalism that certification is intended to identify and encourage should be the goal of every appellate lawyer. Increasingly, trial lawyers who need appellate specialists brought into complex civil and criminal litigation cases early on are seeing the advantages to using board certified appellate specialists for this purpose. Clients who are referred by their lawyers to board certified appellate lawyers are reassured that competent and quality representation will be obtained. One civil appellate lawyer in Texas put it this way: "I have been board certified in civil appellate law here in Texas for several years. Yes, clients care. Yes, referring trial lawyers care. My opinion is that here in Texas, it would be extremely difficult to build and sustain a solo appellate practice without being board certified."

Clients paying for representation have a significant interest in objective measurement of skills and a better way to identify the best lawyer for the job. The value of certification to the government practitioner is evidenced by the Florida attorney general's commitment to board certification and policy of providing salary enhancement for board certified assistant attorneys general.

Certification means that a lawyer has made a commitment to a specialty area, including meeting and maintaining enhanced CLE requirements and intensive peer review. Certification assures clients, referring attorneys, and the judiciary that the attorney who is board...