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Board Certified Bankruptcy Lawyers in Rock Hill, South Carolina | What Does Board Certified Mean?

Lawyer Advertising in South Carolina Regarding
"Specialization"

Many successful lawyers seek to distinguish themselves by becoming board certified in various areas of law. The State of South Carolina's Rule of Professional conduct Rule 7.4 sets rules for lawyers who wish to advertise that they have a "specialty" or "specialize" in a particular area of law.

In South Carolina, The Supreme Court of South Carolina Commission on CLE and Specialization governs attorney specialization according to South Carolina Rule of Professional Conduct 7.4

Rule 7.4 Communication of Fields of Practice and Specialization

(a) A lawyer who is certified under the Rule on Lawyer Competence, Rule 408, SCACR, is entitled to advertise or state publicly in any manner otherwise permitted by these rules that the lawyer is certified as a specialist in the pertinent specialty field by the Supreme Court of South Carolina.
 
(b) A lawyer who is not certified as a specialist but who concentrates in, limits his or her practice to, or wishes to announce a willingness to accept cases in a particular field may so advertise or publicly state in any manner otherwise permitted by these rules. To avoid confusing or misleading the public and to protect the objectives of the South Carolina certified specialization program, any such advertisement or statements shall be strictly factual and shall not contain any form of the words "certified," "specialist," "expert," or "authority" except as permitted by Rule 7.4(d).
 
(c) A lawyer admitted to engage in patent practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office may use the designation "Patent Attorney" or a substantially similar designation. A lawyer engaged in the trademark practice may use the designation "trademarks," "trademark attorney," or "trademark lawyer" or any combination of those terms.
 
(d) A lawyer engaged in admiralty practice may use the designation "admiralty," "proctor in admiralty" or a substantially similar designation.
  1. The South Carolina Standards for Bankruptcy Certification or Bankruptcy Law Specialization;
  2. The South Carolina Standards for Bankruptcy Re-Certification; and
  3. The Application to become Board Certified in Bankruptcy Law

RULE 408 - CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION AND SPECIALIZATION

(c) Designation of Specialty Fields.
 
(1) Subject to approval by the Supreme Court, the Commission may designate a specialty field and define the scope of practice of the field.  The designation may be made by the Commission on its own initiative or upon the petition of 100 members of the Bar.  Prior to the Commission's designation of a specialty field, notice of the proposed designation must be published in the South Carolina Bar News or its successor publication and at least one (1) public hearing relating to the proposed designation must be held.
 
In designating and defining a specialty field, the Commission shall consider:
 
(A) whether the public interest would be served;
 
(B) whether there is sufficient interest to warrant the designation;
 
(C) whether appropriate standards of proficiency can be established for the specialty field;
 
(D) whether there is satisfactory evidence of the existence or prospect of an adequate program of continuing legal education in the specialty field; and
 
(E) whether the designation of the specialty field would fulfill the objectives and further the orderly growth of certified specialization in South Carolina.
 
(2) No standard governing lawyer certification shall be approved which shall in any way limit the right of any certified lawyer to practice in all fields of law.  Any lawyer, alone or in association with any other lawyer, shall have the right to practice in all fields of law, even though certified as a specialist in a particular field.  No lawyer shall be required to attain certified specialist status before practicing in any designated specialty field.  Any lawyer, alone or in association with any other lawyer, shall have the right to practice in any field of law, even though not certified under the program as a specialist in that field.
 
All requirements for and all benefits to be derived from certification as a specialist are individual and may not be fulfilled nor attributed to a law firm of which the specialist may be a member.
 
Participation in the specialization program shall be on a completely voluntary basis.
 
(d) Specialization Advisory Boards.  Each designated specialty field shall have a Specialization Advisory Board charged with the responsibility of establishing standards and procedures for the certification, recertification and decertification of lawyers in the specialty field.  No rules or standards shall be adopted in contravention of the South Carolina Appellate Court Rules.  Each Specialization Advisory Board shall:
 
(1) make and publish reasonable and nondiscriminatory standards concerning education, experience and other relevant matters for the certification of lawyers as specialists in its specialty field;
 
(2) provide procedures for investigating the qualifications of applicants and certificate holders;
 
(3) make and publish reasonable and nondiscriminatory standards for recertification and decertification;
 
(4) recommend to the Supreme Court, for the issuance of certificates, lawyers who have qualified for certification in the designated specialty fields;
 
(5) make and publish rules, regulations and by-laws to implement its authority and duties;
 
(6) cooperate with the Supreme Court, the Commission and other agencies of the Court and the Bar in establishing and enforcing standards of professional conduct for certified lawyers;
 
(7) cooperate with the Special Committee on Specialization of the American Bar Association and with agencies in other states engaged in regulating legal specialization;
 
(8) accredit CLE courses to be taken by certified specialists for recertification, subject to the right of a certified specialist to appeal accreditation decisions to the Commission and from the Commission to the Supreme Court; and
 
(9) report, at least annually, to the Commission.
 
(e) Minimum Standards for Specialist Certification.
 
(1) To qualify for certification in a designated specialty field, an applicant must, at a minimum:
 
(A) be an active member in good standing of the South Carolina Bar;
 
(B) submit the names of five (5) other attorneys who are familiar with the applicant's practice, not including attorneys who currently practice in the same law firm as the applicant, who can attest to the applicant's reputation for involvement and competency in the specialty field;
 
(C) have been engaged in the practice of law for at least five (5) years.  If a Specialization Advisory Board finds that an applicant who has not been engaged in the practice of law for five (5) years has had specialized post-graduate education or concentrated experience in a particular area of practice and that the experience is equal to or greater than the experience the applicant would have gained in that area from five (5) years of practice, the Specialization Advisory Board may recommend to the Supreme Court that the requirement of five (5) years of practice be waived and that the applicant be certified as a specialist; and
 
(D) pay any fee required by the Commission.
 
(2) As determined by each Specialization Advisory Board, an applicant must:
 
(A) make a satisfactory showing of substantial involvement (i.e. actual performance) in the specialty field during a five (5) year period, or other reasonable period of not less than three (3) years, immediately preceding the application, which demonstrates according to objective and verifiable standards that the applicant has been substantially involved in the specialty field for which certification is sought; and
 
(B) successfully complete a program of instruction approved by the Specialization Advisory Board; and
 
(C) undergo and satisfactorily complete an examination approved and administered by the Specialization Advisory Board.  The examination shall consist of oral and/or written parts and shall be designed to test the applicant's knowledge of and ability in the specialty field for which certification is sought.
 
(3) "Substantial involvement" shall be defined by each Specialization Advisory Board as to its particular field of law from a consideration of the complexity and the extent of necessary devotion to the particular field of practice.  It is intended to be a measurement of the actual experience within that particular field.  It may be measured by any of several standards such as the time spent on legal matters within the specialty field, the number or type of matters handled within a certain period of time, the time spent in teaching the law of the specialty field, or any combination of these or other appropriate factors.  However, within each specialty field, experience requirements shall be measured by objective standards.
 
(4) The limit on the number of specialties in which a lawyer may be certified shall be determined by such practical limits as are imposed by the requirement of substantial involvement and such other standards as may be established by the Commission and approved by the Supreme Court as a prerequisite to certification.
 
(f) Standards for Renewal of Certification.  Renewal of certification in a designated specialty field shall be required every five (5) years.  Each applicant for recertification must:
 
(1) make a satisfactory showing of substantial involvement in the particular designated specialty field during the period of certification;
 
(2) make a satisfactory showing of attendance, during the preceding period of certification, at a minimum of sixty (60) hours of continuing legal education in the designated specialty field for which certification was granted.  Only attendance at courses accredited by the pertinent Specialization Advisory Board shall count as credit toward the mandatory continuing legal education requirement for certified specialists.  The Specialization Advisory Boards shall determine the number of credit hours to be given for each course and the specialty field entitled to credit.  On the application of any interested person, the Specialization Advisory Boards, with the assistance of the staff described in section (b)(2)(E) of this Rule, shall make a determination of the qualification of, and credit to be allowed for, particular continuing legal education courses; and
 
(3) pay any fees prescribed by the Commission.
 
(g) Revocation of Certification.  The Specialization Advisory Board may revoke certification of any lawyer if the certification program for that field is terminated or if it is determined after a hearing, on appropriate notice, that:
 
(1) certification was granted contrary to the rules of the Specialization Advisory Board, the Commission, or the Supreme Court;  or
 
(2) certification was granted to a lawyer who was not eligible to have been certified in a specialty or who made any false representation or misstatement of material fact;  or
 
(3) the certified lawyer has failed to abide by all rules and regulations covering the program promulgated by the Specialization Advisory Board, as amended from time to time, including the continuing legal education requirement for maintenance of certified status;  or
 
(4) the certified lawyer has failed to pay any fee prescribed by the Commission;  or
 
(5) the certified lawyer no longer meets the qualifications established by a Specialization Advisory Board; or
 
(6) the lawyer fails to meet the standards of competence for his particular specialty.  Competency in a specialty area shall be determined in the same manner violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct are determined by the Commission on Lawyer Conduct.
 
(h) Right of Hearing and Appeal.
 
(1) Except for denial of certification because of failure to receive a passing grade on a specialty field's written examination, a lawyer who is refused certified status, renewal of certification, or whose certified status is revoked shall have the right to a hearing before the appropriate Specialization Advisory Board and the right to appeal the Advisory Board's ruling to the Commission under rules and regulations prescribed by the Commission and approved by the Supreme Court.  The exhaustion of this right to appeal shall be a condition precedent to judicial review.
 
Under rules and regulations prescribed by the Commission and approved by the Supreme Court, an examination and grade review process shall be established for lawyers who fail to receive a passing grade on a specialty field's written examination.
 
(2) Except as provided otherwise with respect to the issue of whether a lawyer passed a specialty field's written examination, decisions of the Commission may be appealed to the Supreme Court under rules and regulations prescribed by the Commission and approved by the Supreme Court.  Decisions of the Commission concerning whether a lawyer passed or failed a specialty field's written examination shall be final.
 
(i) Responsibilities of Certified Specialists.  When a client is referred by a lawyer to a lawyer who is certified under this program, on a matter within the lawyer's specialty field, the certified lawyer shall not take unfair advantage of the certification to enlarge the scope of the representation, and shall strictly comply with the requirements of the Rules of Professional Conduct.
 
Any certified specialist or any lawyer who holds himself or herself out as a specialist in a particular field shall be held to a standard of competence set by the Supreme Court for a certified specialist in that field.
 
(j) Financing.  Fees approved by the Commission shall be charged for filing applications for certification or renewal of certification by a Specialization Advisory Board, issuance of the certificate evidencing certified status and mandatory continuing legal education registration.  The fees shall be reasonable and in an amount as may be necessary to defray the expense of administering the specialization and mandatory continuing legal education programs, and may be changed from time to time.

Outside the South Carolina Certification Process - The State of South Carolina also has approved an entity to bestow a certification to South Carolina attorneys that apply and pass the requirements of:

American Board of Certification (ABC)
101 Second Street SE, Suite 904
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
(319) 365-2222
www.abcworld.org

They offer a certification in Business Bankruptcy and Consumer Bankruptcy.

Contact a Rock Hill Debt Relief Lawyer Today!

If you wish to retain an attorney it is not essential that they be a "Specialist" in bankruptcy law to do an excellent job. However, if you wish to only choose a lawyer that has earned a "Specialization" from an ABA approved organization and you are unsure if they have a specialization, simply ask if they do hold such a specialization.

Serving clients throughout Northern South Carolina, including Charlotte, Chester, Clinton, Columbia, Fort Mill, Gaffney, Lancaster, Newberry, Rock Hill, Spartanburg, Union, Van Wyck, York, areas in the vicinity of Rock Hill/York County Airport, and other communities in York County.