VIDEO: Pritchett offers insight into specialist credentials

Jan E. Pritchett helps North Carolina lawyers sharpen their skills — and their earning potential — as chair of the state bar’s Board of Legal Specialization. Rasmus Jorgensen reports in the 5 Questions profile in the September edition of North Carolina Lawyers Weekly that the board certifies lawyers in 13 areas, including appellate practice, bankruptcy and trademark law.

Accompanying the profile, which will soon be posted on nclawyersweekly.com, is a video available now in which Pritchett, who also is the managing partner at Schlosser & Pritchett, discusses the challenges of taking a specialization exam and the effort his board pours into developing the tests. His remarks include:

• “It’s kind of hard to pinpoint what the hardest area to obtain certification is.”

• “One thing that’s important to note is that the Board of Legal Specialization actually works with a psychometrician. … These folks actually … look at responses in their studies and look at the number of people that were able to successfully get the correct answer as opposed to the number of people that didn’t.”

• “There’s actually a lot of science involved in the creation and implementation of the tests, and … we’re constantly working, trying to tweak the exam because it’s not supposed to be a gotcha exam; it is a test for proficiency.”

Watch for Pritchett’s 5 Questions profile to be published later this month in the print edition of South Carolina Lawyers Weekly and to be posted online soon at nclawyersweekly.com.

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