Andrew Lavoott Bluestone, Diplomate of ABPLA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) December 6, 2009 -- We are proud to report that Andrew Lavoott Bluestone has been admitted as a Diplomate to the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys. Andrew Lavoott Bluestone is the author and publisher of the New York Attorney Malpractice Blog

The American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys (ABPLA) is the only organization accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) to certify attorneys in the areas of medical malpractice and legal malpractice. Legal & medical malpractice lawyers who are Board Certified must meet and exceed rigorous standards set by the ABPLA, and are recognized as leaders in professional negligence law.



To become Board Certified as a professional negligence attorney by ABPLA, malpractice lawyers are evaluated by five objective measures:

Experience
Ethics
Education
Examination
Excellence
Any candidate for Board Certification must be viewed by the board as having met ABPLA’s high standards in each of these five key areas before the lawyer can be Board Certified.

Experience – To qualify to be a Board Certified malpractice lawyer an attorney must have extensive experience in the area of professional malpractice, requiring that a significant portion of his or her practice be devoted to this area of the law. Additionally, each applicant must meet minimum requirements for experience in trial, mediation, arbitration and discovery in cases specifically devoted to professional liability.

Ethics – Each Board Certified professional malpractice attorney must be a current bar member in good standing and must immediately report any disciplinary action to the board.

Education – Board Certification requires the attorney to meet ABPLA’s minimum standards for continuing legal education, staying current in the area of professional liability litigation, as well as meeting all continuing legal education requirements of the attorney’s state bar association.

Examination – To become Board Certified, each lawyer must pass an examination administered by ABPLA to demonstrate competency in the area of professional malpractice litigation.

Excellence – Each lawyer must supply references by no less than three judges and three attorneys familiar with his or her practice and attesting that the lawyer is substantially involved and highly competent in professional negligence cases.



LEGAL PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY REQUIREMENTS

To become Board Certified in the area of Legal Professional Liability, the following requirements must also be met:




Demonstrate substantial involvement in Legal Professional Liability by showing you:

Have served as LEAD counsel during your legal career in at least 10 trials or arbitrations where testimonial evidence was presented and the matters were submitted to the finder of fact; and of the aforesaid 10 trials, 2 must involve claims of Legal Professional Liability and 1 must be a jury trial.
Participated in 20 additional contested matters (trials, hearings, depositions