Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization Amends Specialization Standards for 2020 The Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization (LBLS) announced that the Appellate Practice Standards, the Bankruptcy Law Standards, the Family Law Standards, the Estate Planning and Administration Standards, and the Tax Law Standards have been amended for 2020.All amendments were approved by the Louisiana State Bar Association’s (LSBA) House of Delegates and Board of Governors at Jan. 18 meetings. Appellate Practice An amendment to the LBLS Appellate Practice Standards to reduce the application requirement for an appellate practice specialist from six to five oral arguments over the course of his/her professional career was approved. Amended requirements for continuing legal education programs to qualify for specialization credit also were approved. Download the amended Appellate Practice Standards at: www.lsba.org/Specialization/AppellatePractice.aspx?Area=Standards. Bankruptcy Law An amendment to the LBLS Bankruptcy Law Standards was approved. This amendment requires that all continuing legal education programs that the American Board of Certification certifies for bankruptcy law specialists must first be approved by Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE), now administered by the LSBA, pursuant to 2018 revisions to the Rules of the Louisiana Supreme Court. The amended LBLS Bankruptcy Law Standards apply to both business bankruptcy law and consumer bankruptcy law. Download the amended Bankruptcy Standards at: www.lsba.org/Specialization/BusinessBankruptcy.aspx?Area=Standards and www.lsba.org/Specialization/ConsumerBankruptcy.aspx?Area=Standards. Family Law Several amendments to the LBLS Family Law Standards were approved. A family law applicant is required to have a minimum of five years of actual practice of law on a full-time basis before applying. The applicant also must have worked 35% of a full-time work schedule in family law in 48 out of 60 months immediately preceding the year of application. The Family Law Standards now require one confidential reference statement from a board-certified family law specialist, instead of two, to apply to be a family law specialist. The annual family law CLE requirement has been reduced from 18 to 15 hours. As in the other specializations, the language in the Family Law Standards was changed from “Louisiana Supreme Court Committee on Mandatory Continuing Legal Education” to “Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Committee” in compliance with the change to the MCLE rule. Download the amended Family Law Standards at: www.lsba.org/Specialization/FamilyLaw.aspx?Area=Standards. Estate Planning and Administration Amendments to the LBLS Estate Planning and Administration Standards regarding continuing legal education programs and basic application requirements were approved. Download the amended Estate Planning and Administration Standards at: www.lsba.org/Specialization/EstatePlanning.aspx?Area=Standards. Tax Law Amendments to the LBLS Tax Law Standards regarding continuing legal education programs and basic application requirements were approved. Download the amended Tax Law Standards at: www.lsba.org/Specialization/TaxLaw.aspx?Area=Standards. New Website The LBLS has a new website: www.lsba.org/specialization/. The new LBLS website address has been added to the Standards. For more information or questions, contact LBLS Specialization Director Mary Ann Wegmann, (504)619-0128, email maryann.wegmann@lsba.org.