Written by: Jocelyne A. Macelloni, Esq.
Lawyers often describe themselves as experienced in a particular area of law. For a client trying to select counsel, however, it can be difficult to determine what that description actually means.
Does the attorney regularly handle these matters? Has the attorney tried them? Has anyone independently evaluated the attorney’s experience or knowledge in the field?
Florida Bar Board Certification helps answer those questions.
Board certification is not an award purchased from a publication, a recognition based on advertising, or a title an attorney can give himself or herself. It is a voluntary credential exclusively awarded by The Florida Bar after an attorney demonstrates substantial experience in a defined area of law, completes enhanced continuing legal education requirements, receives favorable confidential peer review, and passes a written examination.
Florida’s certification program was approved by the Florida Supreme Court in 1982. Today, The Florida Bar offers certification in 27 areas of law. As of July 2026, only 5,032, or approximately 4.9%, of the more than 115,000 lawyers licensed to practice law in the State of Florida lawyers are board certified.
As a Florida Bar Board-Certified Specialist in Business Litigation, and now as Vice Chair of The Florida Bar’s Business Litigation Certification Committee, I have seen the process from both sides. It is demanding by design. Certification is intended to identify attorneys who have not simply practiced law for a certain number of years, but who have developed meaningful experience and demonstrated competence within a particular specialty.
What Board Certification Actually Tells a Client
Lawyers frequently identify the areas in which they practice. That description is useful, but it is generally based on the attorney’s own characterization of his or her practice. Board certification is different because the evaluation comes from outside the attorney’s firm.
The requirements vary depending on the specialty, but every certification area considers the attorney’s experience, knowledge, competence, professionalism, and ethics. Applicants must document their involvement in qualifying matters, complete specialty-specific continuing legal education, submit to confidential review by lawyers and judges familiar with their work, and pass an examination covering the relevant law and practice.
This does not mean that every capable lawyer is board certified. Many excellent attorneys never apply, and certification is not available in every area of practice. It also does not mean that a board-certified attorney is automatically the right lawyer for every matter within that field. What it does mean is that the attorney’s claimed experience in that specialty has been independently examined and found to satisfy standards established by The Florida Bar.
For a client who may have no practical way to compare the qualifications of several lawyers, that provides a meaningful point of reference.
The Requirements for Business Litigation Certification
The requirements for Business Litigation certification illustrate why the designation matters.
Under the current standards, an applicant must have practiced law for at least five years, with at least 30% of the five years preceding the application spent actively participating in business litigation.
The attorney generally must also have handled at least 25 contested business-litigation matters during that period. At least eight of those matters must have been submitted to a judge, jury, arbitration panel, bankruptcy court, administrative agency, or similar decision-maker for resolution of a contested factual issue through live testimony or other evidence. The standards also include a jury-trial requirement, subject to certain permitted substitutions and exceptions.
Applicants must complete at least 50 hours of approved continuing legal education in business litigation during the three years preceding the application. They must identify lawyers and judges who are familiar with their work and can evaluate their competence, professionalism, and ethics. Finally, they must pass a comprehensive written examination addressing the substantive and procedural issues business litigators are expected to know.
Those requirements matter because business litigation is not a narrow or purely academic practice. A business litigator may be required to understand contracts, business organizations, corporate governance, creditors’ rights, the Uniform Commercial Code, fraud and other business torts, intellectual property, evidence, civil procedure, ethical obligations, and the differences between state and federal practice. Just as importantly, the attorney must know how to use that law in an actual dispute.
A business lawsuit can affect far more than the amount claimed in a complaint. It can interrupt operations, restrict access to funds, expose confidential information, affect relationships with lenders or customers, and consume the attention of the people responsible for running the company. The lawyer’s role is not merely to identify the legal issues. It is to understand how the litigation fits within the client’s broader business objectives and to develop a strategy that accounts for cost, leverage, timing, risk, and the practical consequences of each decision.
Experience in contested matters is particularly important because litigation rarely proceeds exactly as anticipated. Facts change. Witnesses perform differently than expected. Courts issue rulings that require the strategy to be adjusted. Opposing parties take positions that may be legally questionable but still must be addressed quickly and effectively. Clients need counsel who can evaluate those developments, explain their significance clearly, and make sound decisions without losing sight of the ultimate objective.
Board certification cannot guarantee that judgment. It does, however, confirm that the attorney has developed and demonstrated a substantial level of experience within the specialty.
How Clients Should Use Board Certification
Board certification should be treated as an important consideration, but not the only consideration.
Clients should still ask whether the attorney has handled matters involving the particular legal and factual issues they are facing. A lawyer may be highly experienced in one type of business dispute but have limited experience with another. The client should also consider the attorney’s proposed strategy, familiarity with the relevant court or forum, ability to explain difficult issues, responsiveness, fee structure, and understanding of the client’s business.
The relationship matters as well. Complex litigation can last for years and often requires difficult decisions under considerable pressure. Clients should have confidence that their attorney will communicate honestly, identify problems early, and provide a reasoned recommendation rather than simply repeating what the client wants to hear.
Board certification does not replace that evaluation. It makes the evaluation more informed. It tells the client that The Florida Bar has independently reviewed the attorney’s experience and qualifications in the specialty. That can be particularly helpful when the client is selecting counsel in an unfamiliar jurisdiction, evaluating lawyers with similar biographies, or referring a significant matter outside the client’s existing network.
Certification Must Be Maintained
Board certification is not permanent. Certification is generally valid for five years, after which the attorney must apply for recertification.
The recertification process requires the attorney to demonstrate continued involvement in the specialty, complete additional specialty-specific continuing legal education, and continue satisfying the applicable standards of competence and professionalism.
That ongoing obligation is important. The law changes constantly. Courts issue new decisions, statutes are amended, procedural rules evolve, and business practices create new disputes that may not have existed when the attorney first became certified. Maintaining proficiency requires continued study and continued involvement in the work. Board certification therefore reflects more than what an attorney accomplished at one point in his or her career. It reflects a continuing commitment to the specialty.
Board Certification at Barakat + Bossa
Barakat + Bossa currently has five board-certified partners who collectively hold six certifications in three areas:
- Brian Barakat — Business Litigation
- Giacomo Bossa — Business Litigation and Real Estate Law
- Jocelyne A. Macelloni — Business Litigation
- Richard “Rich” Richards — Aviation Law
- Zalman Kass — Business Litigation
I am proud of those numbers, but the more important point is what they represent. Our board-certified attorneys have submitted their experience and qualifications to an independent process and have demonstrated substantial involvement in their respective fields.
That depth is valuable when a dispute crosses traditional practice-area lines—as sophisticated business disputes often do. A lawsuit may involve real estate, lending, corporate governance, secured transactions, aviation assets, bankruptcy, or cross-border issues at the same time. Having attorneys with independently evaluated experience across several specialties allows the firm to address those issues as parts of one business problem rather than in isolation.
The Bottom Line
No single credential should determine which lawyer a client hires. The appropriate choice will always depend on the nature of the matter, the attorney’s relevant experience, the proposed strategy, and the client’s particular objectives.
Board certification nevertheless provides something clients do not always receive when evaluating counsel: independent confirmation that the attorney has demonstrated meaningful experience, knowledge, and competence in a specific area of law and has been evaluated for professionalism and ethics.
When the dispute is sophisticated, the financial exposure is significant, or the outcome may affect the future of a business, that information should matter.
Jocelyne A. Macelloni is a partner and director of education at Barakat + Bossa PLLC. Board-certified by the Florida Bar in business litigation, Ms. Macelloni has spent more than a decade representing businesses and business owners in courts and arbitrations around the U.S., including in cross-border transactions and disputes that involve enforcing factoring companies’ and secured creditors’ rights. Her practice focuses on helping companies resolve complex disputes efficiently—by identifying winning strategies early, minimizing risk, and turning litigation into a controlled, strategic process rather than a reactive one. For assistance, Ms. Macelloni can be contacted at jmacelloni@b2b.legal.
This article is intended to provide general information regarding Florida Bar Board Certification and does not constitute legal advice. For guidance tailored to your situation, please contact our team directly.
