Partner at McDonald Johnson Lawyers, Craig Doyle has renewed his accredited specialist status with the Law Society of NSW in both Commercial Litigation Law and Business Law, making him a specialist in these areas for in excess of 20 years.

Craig obtained his Business Law accreditation in the mid 90’s and then his Commercial Litigation Law accreditation a few years later.

The Law Society’s accreditation requires applicants to pass rigorous assessments in communication, problem solving, client relations and in their specialist areas of law. The accreditation program opens annually and requires specialists to also undertake professional development in their specialist area of law.

An accredited specialist must continue to predominantly practise in the areas of their accreditation and also carry out another ten Continuing Legal Education Hours per annum for each accreditation.

As a specialist in two areas, Craig is required to undertake 20 hours of additional legal education annually.

Specialist Accreditation Chair at the Law Society, Richard Harvey said specialist accreditation is held by less than 6% of the profession here in New South Wales.

“We are proud that Specialists Accreditation is such a rigorous process and getting accredited is just the start. When a specialist retains their accreditation year-on-year their clients know the value of the advice they receive,” Richard said.

Craig said he was proud to retain his specialist accreditation for two decades.

“Specialist Accreditation is a recognised mark of expertise for the public and the profession. I am one of the few solicitors in Newcastle who has dual accreditation in both Business Law and Commercial Litigation Law,” Craig said.

“I recall that attaining the accreditation involved undertaking a very detailed assessment, an interview and an exam. I found these tasks to be harder than anything I did at University.”

Craig’s experience is that his work not only comes from his own practice but he is often referred matters by other practitioners.

IMAGE | Partner at McDonald Johnson Lawyers, Craig Doyle.