Palm Beach Gardens, Fl – The state of Florida can claim at least one of its many certified trust and estate lawyers as one of the top 100 hundred in the country, according to the American Society of Legal Advocates (ASLA).
Dec. 30, 2016 The ASLA release its 2017 Top 100 Trusts and Estates lawyer list, which includes Palm Beach Gardens, Fl.-based attorney John Farina. Farina is Board Certified by the Florida Bar and was named to the list of 2016 Top Rated Lawyer in Commercial Litigation and Trusts & Estates, both by American Lawyer Media and Martindale-Hubbell. “It is an honor to be included in such a selective list. Less than one-and-a-half percent of licensed lawyers nationwide are members. ASLA selection further evidences an attorney’s expertise and competency to prospective clients,” Farina told the Florida Record. “It also provides opportunities for exposure and recognition through press releases and featured-lawyer profiles. Many lawyers also take advantage membership as a networking tool to strengthen professional relationships, foster referrals, and stay connected to best practices within the industry.”
Selecting a lawyer who has been named to such a list or earned an official certification is important part of finding the best attorney in that particular field Daniel Media, vice-chair, Florida Bar Wills, Trusts and Estates Certification Committee told the Florida Record. “Certifying trust and estate lawyers helps customers identify attorney's who concentrate on and have the experience in a field necessary truly call themselves experts,” Medina said. “The importance of certification is that it helps ensure that a lawyer is spending his or her time and energy working to become to be an expert in the field of will and estate law, without it they may not have the necessary expertise to handle issues that may turn out to be a lot more complicated than they are initially able to recognize. The problem with a lot of estate cases is that people don't usually have any kind of plan in place until after the owner of the estate has died, which can really complicate matters.”
He continued saying the need for state bar certified lawyers is particularly important in Florida where there are several unusual estate issues relating to real estate. Medina explained that determining the proper fate of the deceased person's homestead can be particularly challenging for many clients. Another challenge is that Florida is made up of a very diverse community that often holds property in many different locations across the United States. Determining final ownership of that property can often require the attorneys to have an understanding of how it relates to each state's own will and estate laws.
According to Medina these trends will only continue to grow in importance in the future as the role of will and estate lawyers continues to grow. “I think specialized will and estate law is more popular in Florida than many other places in the country but I think overall it is a growing field,” he added. “I think this is true for many reasons. For one, the Baby Boomer generation is going to pass on a lot of wealth and it is a huge generation. I also think the field of law is changing and I think people are finding will and estate law more satisfying and less adversarial overall.”