Dear Members

I was honored to be elected for a two-year term as President of the NBLSC by the Board of Governors at our annual meeting on July 15, 2011. The privilege of serving in this office comes after nearly 15 years of service on the NBLSC Board. During my years of my service, I observed great changes in the organization. When I was first elected to the Board, the organization still largely was comprised of trial lawyers. The standards of certification were tilted to lawyers whose practices consisted of numerous jury trials.

Since that time, we have doubled the areas of certification, including non-trial practice areas such as social security and civil pre-trial practice. While we serve the needs of the traditional trial bar, we have been able to expand to certify the expertise and quality of practitioners in other areas, so as to be helpful to a broader array of legal consumers. In short, in the past 15 years, the practice of law has changed and the NBLSC has changed with it.

My principal goal for the term of my presidency, is to carry the message of our mission of certifying the provision of quality legal services to persons in need of our members’ services. I am particularly interested in expanding our membership and presence in our new areas of certification in social security and pre-trial practice. Additionally, I intend to reach out to our members and ask them to identify qualified persons in their respective legal community that have the ability and qualifications to seek board certification. In that regard, I will be contacting and expanding our list of state coordinators to identify these prospective members.

The goal of the NBLSC is, and always has been, the betterment of the quality of advocacy, and aiding consumers in finding experienced and qualified lawyers. By growing our membership and increasing the number of board-certified lawyers, we can and will accomplish both goals.

E. PAUL GIBSON