Board of Legal Specialization and Education.

• Author: Ashby, Kim
• Position: Annual Reports of Committees of the Florida Bar: 2018-2019

The Florida Bar Board of Legal Specialization and Education (BLSE) has the responsibility to administer the programs for regulation of certification according to Chapter 6 of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar, as well as to oversee the legal education offered to the membership. There are 16 members of the BLSE who serve: Chair Kim Ashby; Vice Chair Steve Lesser, Frank T. Adams, Philip R. Augustine, G. Scott Baitty, Susan J. Cole, Joseph F. "Skooter" Kinman, Jr., Michele L. Lieberman, Robert A. Norgard, Mark Osherow, Colin M. Roopnarine, Elisha D. Roy, Elaine Thompson, Joseph J. Weissman, David C. Willis, and Barbara C. Wingo.

Each member of the BLSE is assigned as a liaison to designated areas of certification and monitors issues and events for the individual certification areas as needed.

During the current Bar year, BLSE has examined the impact of service as a judge or magistrate on a member's status as board certified. Specifically, BLSE has studied the definitions of "inactive status" to ensure that it is applied logically and uniformly to all areas of certification which may be affected, and to afford recognition for members who serve as judges and magistrates and then returned to practice as a lawyer. BLSE is also in the process of studying the rules as applied to members who become full-time mediators.

BLSE continues to support the program which coordinates and makes available board certified lawyers to answer questions on a pro bono, "on-call" basis, known as the Certified Lawyers On Call Program (CLOC). In its inaugural year, the CLOC Program announced that it went live in January, and has experienced an enthusiastic response to its services. CLOC may be contacted at https://thefloridabarfoundation. org/pro-bono-partnerships/certified-lawyers-on-call/.

In its continuing effort to assure the members applying for board certification are treated fairly and uniformly across the various certification areas, BLSE has engaged a new exam consultant to revisit the methodology for administering and creating the examinations, as well as a review of the grading process. This review is tandem with BLSE's...