R. Regul. Fl. Bar 6-23.4

As amended through November 4, 2024

Rule 6-23.4 - RECERTIFICATION

(a) Substantial Involvement. The applicant must demonstrate continuous and substantial involvement in labor and employment law throughout the period since filing the last application for certification. Substantial involvement means the applicant has devoted 50 percent or more of the applicant's practice to matters in which issues of labor and employment law are significant factors and in which the applicant had substantial and direct participation in those labor and employment law issues. The applicant must furnish information concerning the frequency of the applicant's work and the nature of the issues involved. Demonstration of this requirement is made initially through a form questionnaire approved by the labor and employment law certification committee, but written or oral supplementation may be required.

(b) Experience. The applicant must have 25 days of involvement acting as the primary lawyer, judge, hearing officer, referee, master, magistrate, arbitrator, or mediator in litigation or administrative proceedings concerning labor and employment law issues within the 5 years immediately preceding the filing of the application for recertification. Proceedings include, but are not limited to, trials; evidentiary hearings; arbitrations; collective bargaining; conciliation conferences with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or state deferral agency; on-site inspections by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs; Fair Labor Standards Act audits conducted by the Department of Labor; and unemployment compensation appeal hearings, mediations, court hearings, taking depositions, and oral arguments.

Any proceeding lasting at least 4 hours will be credited as a full day. Any proceeding lasting fewer than 4 hours, but at least 1 hour, will be credited as a half day. Proceedings occurring on the same day and are of the type for which experience credit may be given under this rule but are not individually at least 1 hour in length may be aggregated for purposes of claiming credit. If aggregation is used, the applicant must aggregate all qualifying proceedings occurring during a single day to determine the total hours of proceedings and corresponding credit.

Generally, credit for a single proceeding occurring over multiple days is calculated on a daily basis. However, a single proceeding occurring exclusively in periods of less than 4 hours a day on multiple days is limited to the amount of credit the proceeding would receive if aggregated.

Conducting an oral argument at a state or federal appellate court automatically entitles the applicant to 1 full day of credit, regardless of the amount of time that is allotted to the oral argument by the court. The applicant may also seek credit from the certification committee for activities not listed in this rule that involve labor and employment issues that are of sufficient complexity and otherwise demonstrate the applicant's labor and employment law experience. Experience credit to be awarded for any of these additional activities will be the sole discretion of the certification committee.

Direct supervision of lawyers engaged in contested matters, as defined above, may be considered in determining compliance with this requirement.

The following activities are not accepted as proceedings satisfying the 25-day experience requirement: attendance at pre-trial conferences, attendance at scheduling and status conferences, defending depositions, preparation of pleadings, preparation of written discovery, preparation of motions, memoranda, briefs, and position statements, and participation in investigations by administrative agencies unless that participation involves in-person activities including an onsite visit, inspection, or audit, or other covered activities, including hearings or mediation.

(c) Education. The applicant must complete 75 hours of continuing legal education in the area of labor and employment law since filing the last application for certification. Passage of the examination given to initial certification applicants will satisfy the education requirement if the applicant has not completed 75 hours.

(d) Peer Review. The applicant must submit the names and addresses of at least 3 lawyers and at least 1 judge, arbitrator, mediator, or administrator before whom the lawyer has appeared or practiced since the last application for certification to complete peer review forms. The references may not include lawyers who currently practice in the applicant's law firm.

(e) Waiver of Compliance. For an applicant who has been continuously certified as a labor and employment lawyer for a period of 14 years or more, the labor and employment law certification committee may waive compliance with either the experience or substantial involvement criterion for recertification, for good cause shown and provided the applicant has complied with all other requirements for recertification.

R. Regul. Fl. Bar 6-23.4

Added and amended effective 3/23/2000 (763 So.2d 1002); amended August 26, 2005; amended and effective 1/26/2018 by Board of Governors; amended and effective 12/4/2020 by The Florida Bar Board of Governors.