The Florida Bar is one step closer to recognizing Insurance Coverage Law as a formal board certification specialty. In a unanimous vote, the Bar’s Program Evaluation Committee recently approved a proposal to create the new certification, acknowledging the complexity and growing importance of this legal area—especially given the volume of litigation stemming from Florida’s property insurance market. Advocates argued that insurance coverage is a distinct and highly technical practice that merits its own designation, separate from existing civil trial and appellate certifications. The proposal has widespread support, with over 250 attorneys pledging to pursue certification once available and endorsements from several organizations, including United Policyholders, the Florida Justice Association, and the Florida Defense Lawyers Association.
In a particularly meaningful moment, Florida Bar President-elect Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes, a board-certified civil trial lawyer from West Palm Beach, expressed strong support for the certification. “We have a ton of practitioners that did very well in this area, but did not really have the ability to have a designation as expert in this area because there is no board certification for it,” she said. Baker-Barnes also pointed out that the National Bar Association’s creation of an ‘Insurance Law Section’ in recent years has been highly popular, further affirming the importance and demand for formal recognition in this field.
If approved by the Board of Governors and ultimately the Florida Supreme Court, Insurance Coverage Law will become the 28th specialty area recognized by the Florida Bar—offering practitioners a new avenue for professional distinction and helping consumers identify qualified counsel.
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