SPECIALIST ACCREDITATION

WHAT IS AN ACCREDITED SPECIALIST?

An accredited specialist is a Solicitor who has demonstrated expertise in a particular area of law and has been identified as an accredited specialist by the NSW Law Society.

The NSW law society recognises accredited specialists in a number of areas of law, including:

• Criminal law
• Business law
• Family law
• Employment law
• Property law

HOW DO LAWYERS BECOME ACCREDITED SPECIALISTS?

To become an accredited specialist a solicitor must have practised law full-time for at least five years. They must also have spent the previous three years practicing in their area of speciality for at least a quarter of their full-time practice.

Lawyers must then pass a number of assessments including communication, problem solving, client relations and an assessment in their specialist area. This assessment includes interviews, mock hearings and written examinations.

WHY USE A SPECIALIST ACCREDITED LAWYER?

Specialist advice and representation in the legal system is important. Lawyers who have achieved specialist accreditation are easily identifiable as lawyers with expert legal knowledge, skills and services.

Both partners at Morrisons have been identified by the NSW Law Society as accredited specialists in criminal law. Morrisons is the only private firm in the Illawarra, South Coast and Southern Highlands to have two solicitors achieve this recognition for criminal law.

Graeme Morrison was identified as an accredited specialist in criminal law in 1994 and has maintained his status as an accredited specialist for over 25 years.

In 2017, Matt Ward was identified as an accredited specialist in criminal law. Since then, Matt has been appointed to the Criminal Law Specialist Accreditation Advisory Committee. This committee is responsible for setting and marking assessments for Solicitors applying to be accredited specialists.

More information about the specialist accreditation programs can be found on the Law Society of NSW website here.