MINIMUM STANDARDS

(a) Substantial Involvement. The applicant must have at least 5 years of the actual practice of law, of which at least 40 percent has been spent in active participation in adoption law. The applicant must have continuous and substantial involvement in adoption law cases as follows. Service as a guardian ad litem, standing alone, is not substantial involvement. All qualified adoption placements and contested adoption proceedings must conclude within the required 5-year period, except that an adoption appeal may qualify for consideration after submission of a written brief to the appellate court.

(1) Adoption Placements. The applicant must have either presided over as a judge or general magistrate, or handled as an advocate, a minimum of 50 adoption placements in which the applicant was substantially involved as defined in this subchapter. All placements must have involved the placement of a minor child with an adoptive family who is not related to the child within the third degree of consanguinity or is not the minor child’s stepparent. The applicant may include no more than 5 cases where substantial involvement is demonstrated on work accomplished for an adoption plan that did not result in an adoptive placement.

(A) The applicant must have appeared before the court as the adoption entity, as defined in the Florida Adoption Act, on behalf of the adoptive parents or as the lawyer for the adoption entity in each of these 50 adoption placements.

(B) The applicant must have been responsible for at least 50 percent of the legal decisions concerning the minor child’s adoption placement, termination of the biological and legal parents’ parental rights, and finalization of the adoption in each of these 50 adoption placements.

(C) Adoption placements and legal proceedings simultaneously undertaken with respect to the same child or sibling group will be deemed collectively as 1 adoption placement.

(D) Adoption Placements do not include the:

(i) domestication of intercountry adoptions;

(ii) termination of parental rights under Chapter 39, Florida Statutes; or

(iii) finalization of an adoption where the applicant was not substantially involved in the placement of the child as set forth in this subchapter or the termination of parental rights under the Florida Adoption Act.

(2) Contested Adoption Proceedings or Adoption Appeals. The applicant must demonstrate substantial involvement, as defined in this subdivision, in a minimum of 15 contested adoption proceedings or adoption appeals within the 5 years immediately preceding the date of the application if the applicant does not meet the minimum requirement of 50 adoption placements. The applicant must demonstrate responsibility for at least 50 percent of the legal work in preparing and presenting the case in each of the 15 contested adoption proceedings or adoption appeals when a contested adoption proceeding or adoption appeal meets the following requirements. Service as a guardian ad litem, standing alone, will not constitute substantial involvement.

(A) Contested Adoption Proceedings. A contested adoption proceeding is a contested proceeding under the Florida Adoption Act, including a proceeding to terminate parental rights in furtherance of adoption, an adoption proceeding, or an intervention. An eligible contested adoption includes, but is not limited to, a private adoption placement, a contested stepparent or relative adoption, or a proceeding in which the court grants or denies intervention when the proceeding includes:

(i) an adversarial evidentiary hearing or trial in which the applicant has substantial involvement as defined in this subdivision and the ultimate issues are submitted to the trier of fact for final resolution;

(ii) an adversarial evidentiary hearing or trial in which the applicant has substantial involvement as defined elsewhere in the subdivision and the ultimate issues are resolved with a mediator or by the parties before the issues are submitted to the trier of fact for final resolution; or

(iii) extraordinary, complex contested litigation in which the applicant has substantial involvement as defined in this subdivision and the ultimate issues are resolved with a mediator or by the parties before an adversarial evidentiary hearing or trial.

(B) Adoption Appeal. An adoption appeal is any appeal arising under the Florida Adoption Act, whether the issue was presented pre- or post-finalization of the adoption. An adoption appeal is only eligible for consideration when the applicant establishes that the applicant was responsible for a majority of the legal decisions in each matter, including the filing of principal briefs in an appellate case or the filing of petitions or responses in extraordinary writ cases. In all cases, the applicant must specifically identify any co-counsel and demonstrate that the applicant’s level of participation was substantial and direct. In support of the application requesting credit for an adoption appeal, the applicant must submit each brief and appropriately redact all identifying information regarding birth and adoptive families. The applicant must have been responsible for all or at least 50 percent of the legal decisions in each case in each of these 15 contested adoption appeals. A brief, including an amicus brief, written for different appellate levels (i.e. district court, Supreme Court of Florida and federal courts) may be submitted as a separate appellate case handled by the applicant, but cases arising from a single proceeding may not be counted more than twice. Briefs written for different appellate levels must be substantially different in order to be counted twice.

(3) Related Adoption Proceedings. The applicant must have advocated for a party or participant in a related adoption proceeding and demonstrate that the applicant was substantially involved as defined in this subchapter. No more than 3 related adoption proceedings will be counted.

(A) The applicant must have been responsible for at least 50 percent of the legal work in the related adoption proceeding.

(B) Related adoption proceedings and other legal proceedings simultaneously undertaken with respect to the same child or sibling group will be deemed collectively as 1 adoption placement or related adoption proceeding.

(4) Application Requirements. The applicant meets the substantial involvement requirements by submitting proof of 50 adoption placements or 15 contested adoption proceedings or appeals as required in the adoption law certification standards; or the applicant may submit an application detailing substantial involvement in a combination of adoption placements and contested adoption proceedings or appeals to be considered by the committee as follows.

(A) Each adoption placement, contested adoption proceeding, or appeal will be assigned points as set forth below. The applicant must submit a minimum of 100 points for review. Points will be awarded as follows.

(i) Each adoption placement as defined in this subdivision will be assigned 2 points.

(ii) Each contested adoption proceeding as defined in this subdivision will be assigned 6 points.

(iii) Each adoption appeal as defined in this subdivision will be assigned 6 points.

(iv) Each related adoption proceeding as defined in this subdivision will be assigned 6 points.

(B) The point system in this subdivision will be used solely to determine whether an applicant has met the minimum combination number of cases.

(C) Cases that involve the same child or sibling group will not be considered for more than 1 adoption placement, contested proceeding, or appeal (adoption matter). For good cause shown, the applicant may count cases as 2 adoption matters if the applicant meets the separate substantial involvement requirements for each event. No case involving the same child or sibling group will be counted as more than 2 adoption matters.

(b) Education. The applicant must complete 30 credit hours of approved continuing legal education in the field of adoption law during the 3-year period immediately preceding the application date. Accreditation of educational hours are subject to policies established by the adoption law certification committee or the board of legal specialization.

(c) Peer Review.

(1) Lawyer References. The applicant must submit names and addresses of 6 lawyers who neither are relatives nor current associates or partners to complete peer review forms. At least 3 of the lawyers must be members of The Florida Bar, with their principal office located in the state of Florida. These lawyers must be involved in adoption law and familiar with the applicant’s practice.

(2) Judicial References. The applicant must submit the names and addresses of 2 judges before whom the applicant has appeared on adoption matters within the 2-year period immediately preceding the application date to complete peer review forms.

(d) Examination. The applicant must pass an examination administered uniformly to all applicants to demonstrate sufficient knowledge, skills, proficiency, experience, and professionalism in adoption law to justify the representation of special competence to the legal profession and the public. New subchapter added June 11, 2009, (SC08-1981), (11 So.3d 343); amended and effective May 20, 2016 by The Florida Bar Board of Governors; amended and effective December 4, 2020 by the Florida Bar Board of Governors; amended and effective March 25, 2022 by The Florida Bar Board of Governors.