Board Certification
What does Board Certified in DUI Defense Law mean?
A quick glance through the "lawyers" section of the yellow page directory of any major phone book will make it clear that many lawyers claim to specialize in one or more kinds of legal matters. The hard part for someone who is looking for a lawyer is in knowing which specialist actually possesses those needed skills. To help consumers in making these decisions the American Bar Association has established Board Certification programs. These programs identify lawyers who have high levels of skill in a certain specialty. Here is what the ABA says about Board Certification:
"A lawyer who is a certified specialist has been recognized by an independent professional certifying organization as having an enhanced level of skill and expertise, as well as substantial involvement in an established legal specialty. These organizations require a lawyer to demonstrate special training, experience and knowledge to insure that the lawyer's recognition as a certified specialist is meaningful and reliable."
The ABA has certified the National College for DUI Defense, Inc., as the only organization to issue Board Certification in DUI Defense Law. An attorney who is Board Certified by the NCDD has been tested and certified as possessing "an enhanced level of skill and expertise" in the area of DUI Defense Law. [Read more about Mr. Foote's National Certifications]
How does an attorney become Board Certified in DUI Defense Law?
Board Certification is not an easy process. As of 2007, there are only 36 attorneys in the entire United States who are Board Certified in DUI Defense Law. To become certified an attorney must:
- Demonstrate and document extensive experience in defending DUI cases, including a large number of trials and motions, and references from lawyers and judges regarding that experience;
- Pass a multi-part exam that covers all areas of DUI defense including knowledge of the law regarding DUI, blood and breath testing science for both alcohol and drugs, field sobriety testing, human physiology as it relates to DUI, constitutional law, the rules of evidence, trial practice, police procedures and other areas of knowledge essential to defending your DUI case.
- The attorney also must submit a written brief and argue it in front of some of the premier DUI attorneys in the United States.
An attorney can be Board Certified only if he passes all of these requirements. This examination is not easy. Most of the attorneys who take this examination fail to pass it.
What does Board Certification mean to you?
With a Board Certified DUI attorney, you can be confident that you have an attorney who has the experience and knowledge to defend you and has been recognized by the Top DUI attorneys in the United States as having excelled in this area of the law.
There is only one attorney in Maine who is Board Certified in DUI Defense Law "Wayne R. Foote."
Contact Maine's foremost OUI defense lawyer right now.