NELF News Release

Tucson, Ariz. - The National Elder Law Foundation, through its Board of Certification (Board), has announced a program to certify attorneys in the area of elder law, one of the fastest growing areas of the legal profession.

The certification program has been developed to identify those lawyers who have the enhanced knowledge, skills, and experience to be properly identified to the public as certified elder law attorneys. The Board has developed and promulgated rules and regulations regarding certification and has begun the process of accepting applications.

The ABA's Standing Committee on Specialization for accreditation has approved NELF as a certifying agency - the only organization offering certification in elder law.

The minimum requirements for attorneys to receive certification in elder law are as follows:

1. The attorney must be licensed to practice law in at least one state or jurisdiction in the United States.
   
2. The attorney must have been in active law practice during the preceding five years before submitting an application. Service as a full-time judge or law professor at an accredited law school will also be considered.

3. Applicants must be in good standing in all of the bar associations in all jurisdictions where they are licensed to practice law.
   

4. Applicants must demonstrate substantial involvement and experience in elder law. This is defined as having spent a minimum of 16 hours per week in each of the three years immediately preceding the application date. -more- Certification Program/2 Elder law is described in the Rules and Regulations as thirteen defined service areas. In addition, the applicants must have handled at least 60 elder law matters during those three years, in a specified distribution within those thirteen areas.
   
5. Applicants must attend continuing legal education of at least 45 hours in elder law during the preceding three years.
   
6. At least five confidential professional references must be submitted by applicants from attorneys familiar with the applicant's qualifications and competence in elder law.
   
7. Applicants must sit for and pass an examination designed to measure elder law practice skills.

Certification is open to all attorneys who meet specific practice and educational criteria and who successfully pass a certification exam.

There is an initial fee of $25 to process a "short-form" application. Once the short form application is accepted, the applicant will be sent a "long-form" application which must then be submitted with a $275 fee. The examination fee is $300, and once certified, there is an annual dues fee of $300.

Re-certification, which is required every five years, requires the applicant to demonstrate continuing substantial involvement and continuing legal education and further peer review.

For more information on the certification process, contact Fran Bettinger at (520) 881-1076, ext. 123 or email her at fbettinger@naela.com.