Supreme Court of Florida.

• Author: Anstead, Harry Lee

500 South Duval Street Tallahessee, Florida 32399-1925

HARRY LEE ANSTEAD CHIEF JUSTICE

CHARLES T. WELLS R. FRED LEWIS PEGGY A QUINCE RAOUL G CANTERO, III KENNETH B. BELL JUSTICES

THOMAS D. HALL CLERK OF COURT

WILSON E. BARNES MARSHAL

Dear Colleagues:

In 1998, when The Florida Bar's certification program was celebrating its 15th birthday, I was privileged to speak to the Bar's certification leaders. I believed then as I do today, that board certification is one of the crown jewels of the Florida justice system. As the first chair of the Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism, I was particularly interested in the interplay between board certification and the Court's efforts to promote professionalism.

Since 1998, there has been marked progress in the number of lawyers certified and the number of specialty areas available for certification. However, a key factor in maintaining and improving the quality of the board certification process is extending the program to a greater percentage of the Bar. We have now reached 20 years of board certification, and we still have much work to do, both on certification and professionalism.

The Court originally sanctioned board certification because the program serves the public by promoting excellence and professionalism among Florida lawyers and providing a benchmark for informed decisions for clients, referring attorneys, and hiring attorneys. While the public good was and is the most important component of the Court's objectives, the benefits to lawyers and the effective administration of justice in Florida cannot be overstated.

The public's perception of lawyers, the climate of our adversary any other legal processes, and the administration of justice all benefit from enhanced professionalism and certification. In fact, in its own...