§ Rule 6-11.5 Recertification

Codes > Florida Statutes > Rules Regulating > Chapter 6 : 6-11 Standards > Rule 6-11.5

Rule 6-11.5. Recertification

    To be eligible for recertification, an applicant must meet the following requirements:

    (a) Substantial Involvement.The applicant shall demonstrate continuous and substantial involvement in the practice of law, of which 30 percent has been spent in active participation in workers' compensation law throughout the period since the last date of certification. The demonstration of substantial involvement shall be made in accordance with the standards set forth in rule 6-11.3(a)(3).

    (b) Trial Requirement.The applicant must have completed trial of a minimum of 15 contested workers' compensation cases, or the substantial equivalent, since the filing of the last application for certification. All such cases must have involved substantial legal or factual issues. For good cause shown, as partial satisfaction for the requirement of 15 contested workers' compensation cases, the workers' compensation certification committee may substitute for “trials” their “substantial equivalent” or 5 cases involving appeals and/or protracted litigation of contested workers' compensation cases involving substantial legal or factual issues. The total number of cases that may be substituted for the minimum 15 contested cases, including cases of “substantial equivalent,” appeals and cases of “protracted litigation,” is a total of 10 cases, of which the total number of cases of “protracted litigation” and/ or appeals, shall not exceed a total of 5 cases and cases of “substantial equivalent” shall not exceed a total of 5 cases. Attorney fee hearings, on the sole issue of the quantum fees, cannot be considered as a contested workers' compensation case. Cases involving a merits hearing, with a later attorney fee hearing in the question of entitlement to an attorney's fee on the same merit issues, can count as only 1 case. Hearings and/or trials outside the jurisdiction of the Florida Office of the Judges of Compensation Claims, and appeals of these matters (including, but not limited to, rule nisi, federal workers' compensation matters, Federal Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act matters, and other circuit court actions, etc.) cannot be used to meet the trial, protracted litigation, or substantial requirements.

    (c) Peer Review.The applicant shall submit references as set forth in rule 6-11.3(b). The references submitted must be able to attest to the applicant's special competence and substantial involvement in workers' compensation practice, as well as the applicant's character, ethics, and professionalism, throughout the period since the last date of certification.

    (d) Education.The applicant shall report completion of at least 75 hours of approved continuing legal education in workers' compensation law since the filing of the last application for certification.

    (e) Waiver.On special application, for good cause shown, the workers' compensation certification committee may waive compliance with the 15 contested workers' compensation cases requirement for an applicant who has been continuously certified as a workers' compensation lawyer for a period of 14 years or more.