Dan B. Gerson is a Board Certified Criminal Law Specialist. 
What is Board Certified? 

Board Certification is a voluntary designation program for attorneys and legal assistants. Initial certification is valid for a period of five years. To remain certified, an attorney and legal assistant must apply for recertification every five years and meet substantial involvement, peer review and continuing legal education requirements for the specialty area.

To become Board Certified in a specialty area, an attorney must have:

Been licensed to practice law for at least five years;

Devoted a required percentage of practice to a specialty area for at least three years;

Handled a wide variety of matters in the area to demonstrate experience and involvement;

Attended continuing education seminars regularly to keep legal training up to date;

Been evaluated by fellow lawyers and judges;

Passed a 6-hour written examination.

To become Board Certified in a specialty area, a legal assistant must:

Have at least 5 years experience as a legal assistant (3 years in Texas);

Currently work under the supervision of a licensed attorney doing business in Texas;

Have at least 50% of legal assistant duties concentrated in specialty areas;

Attended continuing education seminars regularly to keep legal training up to date;

In addition to the above, successfully complete one of the following:

NALA certification, or

Baccalaureate or higher degree, or

ABA approved legal assistant program, or

Legal assistant program consisting of a minimum of 60 semester credit hours of which 18 hours are substantive legal courses, or

Legal assistant program consisting of a minimum of 18 semester credit hours of which 18 hours are substantive legal courses in addition to a minimum of 45 semester credit hours of general college curriculum courses, or

4 additional years of actual legal assistant experience under the supervision of a licensed attorney;

Have been evaluated by lawyers, judges and other professionals associated with the specialty area;

Pass a 4-hour written examination.

The information you obtain at this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. 
You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation.