Connecticut Rules of Professional Conduct (Connecticut Practice Book) 7.4A: Certification as specialist: approved certifying bodies, notice to the Statewide Grievance Committee, lapsed certifications and the recognised fields

What does 7.4A require?

No lawyer may claim to be a specialist unless currently certified in that field by a board or entity that the Rules Committee of the Superior Court has approved or that the American Bar Association has accredited. Approved certifiers must certify on published standards that do not discriminate against qualified lawyers, give a reasonable basis for the claim of special competence, and require re-examination of qualifications at least every five years. When a Connecticut lawyer is certified, the certifier must notify the Statewide Grievance Committee of the lawyer's name and juris number, the field, and the dates of certification and expiry. A lawyer may not keep claiming certification after it has ended or in a way its terms do not allow, and a firm may not be described as certified. The rule lists twenty-eight fields in which certification may be granted, from administrative law and admiralty through bankruptcy, civil rights, criminal, elder, environmental, family, immigration, labor, patent, real estate and tax practice to workers' compensation.