Chain | Cohn | Clark now home to two attorneys state certified as specialists in workers’ compensation

The Bakersfield-based accident, injury and workers’ compensation law firm Chain | Cohn | Clark is now home to two lawyers who are state certified as specialists in workers’ compensation law, awarded to legal professionals who have gone beyond the standard licensing requirements.

The designation follows the passage by Chain | Cohn | Clark attorney Beatriz Trejo of a wide range of criteria and examinations. Chain | Cohn | Clark senior partner and workers’ compensation veteran attorney James Yoro had previously been state certified.

According to the State Bar, the program was intended to provide a method for attorneys to earn the designation of certified specialist in particular areas of law, increasing public protection and encouraging attorney competence. The program was the first of its kind in the United States, and it has served as a model for other state programs for certifying legal specialists around the nation.

To be state certified as a specialist, attorneys must:

• Pass a written examination in the legal specialty area.
• Practice law continuously for at least five years, spending at least 25 percent of the time given to occupational endeavors practicing in the specialty area
• Complete continuing education in the specialty area greater than that required of general licensees of the bar
• Demonstrate a broad-based and comprehensive experience in the specialty area based on completion of a variety of matters in the specialty area.
• Earn favorable evaluations by other attorneys and judges familiar with the attorney’s work in the specialty area of law.

The State Bar’s Board of Legal Specialization must approve each attorney’s application. Once certified, specialists must maintain their certification by completing and reporting ongoing tasks and experience by every five years. They must also report 36 hours of education every three years along with their Minimum Continuing Legal Education compliance group.

The state officer specialty certification in the following areas:

• Admiralty and Maritime Law
• Appellate Law
• Bankruptcy Law
• Criminal Law
• Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law
• Family Law
• Franchise and Distribution Law
• Immigration and Nationality Law
• Legal Malpractice Law
• Taxation Law
• Workers’ Compensation Law

Beatriz Trejo has practiced in front of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board since 2012. She is the 2017 recipient of the “Workers’ Compensation Young Lawyer of the Year” award in California. She is the past president of the California Applicants’ Attorneys Association (CAAA), Bakersfield Chapter, and has been named as one of the 20 Under 40 People to Watch by Bakersfield Life Magazine. She was also selected among her peers as a “Top Attorney” in workers’ compensation law in Kern County. For more on Trejo, click here.

James Yoro is one of the most veteran and most respected workers’ compensation lawyers in the Central Valley. He is past president of Kern County Bar Association, and was recently recognized in the Best Lawyers in America program, which is the oldest and among the most respected attorney ranking services in the world. He has argued cases before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals the California Supreme Court. For nearly 40 years, he has fought day in and day out for the rights of injured workers. He, too, was selected among his peers as a “Top Attorney” in workers’ compensation law in Kern County. For more on Yoro, click here.

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If you or someone you know is injured at work, please contact the state certified workers’ compensation specialist at Chain | Cohn | Clark to help you with your workers’ compensation case. Call (661) 323-4000, chat with an operator, or fill out a contact form to reach our Bakersfield law firm.

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*NOTICE: Making a false or fraudulent Workers’ Compensation claim is a felony subject to up to 5 years in a prison or a fine of up to $150,000 or double the value of the fraud, whichever is greater, or by both imprisonment and fine.