The North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal specialization describes the Legal Specialization as follows: Many lawyers limit their practices to certain areas of law. However, a lawyer may not claim that he or she is a "specialist" unless the lawyer is certified as a specialist by the North Carolina State Bar's Board of Legal Specialization or a certifying organization that has been approved by the American Bar Association.

 Certification of lawyers as specialists by an objective entity and according to objective criteria fulfills the mission of the State Bar to protect the public by providing relevant, truthful, and reliable information to consumers of legal services. Certification helps consumers to identify lawyers who have experience and skill in a certain area of practice. Certification also helps lawyers by encouraging them to improve their expertise in particular areas of practice and providing them with a legitimate way of informing the public and other lawyers of this expertise.