The hard reality of the current legal marketplace is that few practitioners can achieve a sustainable competitive advantage without focusing their practice on one area of law. By practicing exclusively in one area, the cost of resource materials, software, CLE, and marketing decreases. Specialists enjoy greater productivity, less stress, an enhanced professional reputation among judges, and access to better quality cases. In Florida, specialization means board certification. Only board certified lawyers may market themselves as specialists.
Board certification acts as a form of differen- tiation strategy.
A differentiation strategy achieves a competitive advantage by creating a product that the client perceives to be unique. This perception of uniqueness allows the attorney to charge a premium price relative to the competition. Think about it. Consider lawyers in the news and on television taking on the biggest and most lucrative cases. Moreover, becoming the best is a function of specialization.