In 1983 a modest number of Florida attorneys were granted Board Certification by The Florida Bar. This year those legal certification pioneers are celebrating their 30 year anniversary. The Nance Cacciatore Law Firm is proud to claim its founder, Jim Nance, and Sammy Cacciatore as members of this prestigious assemblage.
The Florida Supreme Court approved the Florida Bar’s Board Certification program in 1982, and in 1983 Mr. Nance was among the first attorneys to be certified in Civil Trial Law. However, The Florida Bar was not the first legal organization to bestow the honor of certification upon him. One year earlier, in 1982, the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) granted Nance his first certification in Civil Trial Law and Sammy Cacciatore in 1983.
The NBTA was founded in 1977 by Theodore Koskoff of Bridgeport, Conneticut, who was a trailblazer in the field of legal specialization. Koskoff’s mission for founding the organization was to substantially advance public interest by establishing a genuine trial advocacy certification program. In Koskoff’s view, the lack of such programs up until that point had caused the low estate of trial advocacy in the United States, and contributed to the overall diminished state of the Justice System.
Therefore, the achievement of Board Certification is not only an extremely prestigious honor; it also serves as proof that an attorney has upheld the virtues of the Legal profession for a significant amount of time. Attorneys must practice law for a minimum of five years, have substantial involvement in the specific field in which they are trying to obtain certification, tried 10 cases in which they are lead counsel, and pass a written examination for civil trial certification. In Florida, an attorney cannot claim to be a specialist in any form of law without achieving Board Certification.
Only 6% of The Florida Bar eligible attorneys are Board Certified.
According to Nance, “Board certification is an excellent thing for the profession. It serves to make a good representation to the client. It’s more than a plus”. Mr. Nance also recognizes that the Board Certification exam can be very beneficial to an attorney. “It’s good because it forces you to have to answer legal questions on your own for once,” Nance said.
Since founding his Melbourne law firm in 1966, James Nance served as President of the Inner Circle of Advocates which is an invitation-only national organization group of the top 100 Plaintiff Attorneys that has obtained million dollar verdicts in the United States. Nance, along with his law partner Sammy Cacciatore, are the only two Personal Injury attorneys listed in the 2013 edition of The Best Lawyers in America for the Melbourne area. Nance Cacciatore are very active in various charities in Brevard County and Florida.
If you are looking for a Melbourne or Titusville personal injury attorney, let the experts and professional at Nance Cacciatore represent you in a court of law.
