A joint effort by the Public Interest Law Section and the Legal Needs of Children Committee to create a new certification area for children’s law is moving forward.

The Board of Legal Specialization and Education at its September meeting approved the request in concept and asked the committee and section to draft standards. Those could be ready for the BLSE at its fall meeting or at its January gathering.

Tracey McPharlin, chair of PILS, reported on the effort at the Bar Board of Governor’s meeting in September, and said the two groups hope to push forward by the end of the year.

John Copelan, vice chair of Legal Needs of Children Committee who is heading up the certification effort, said, “It’s something that we’ve been studying for a couple years, and we’ve had a very good initial response to our discussion.”

The joint committee/section group is looking at including dependency and delinquency issues in the certification standards, he said.

“We will also probably touch on some issues like special education issues and other issues that come up in the representation of children,” Copelan added.

He said the hope is the program will be through all its Bar-related reviews by next summer and be ready to present to the Supreme Court. So far, more than 150 attorneys have expressed an interest in seeking a certification in children’s law.

With the emphasis on children’s issues within the Bar, Copelan said it’s a timely project.

“This is a natural step in recognizing children’s law within the Bar,” he said.