specialization

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1. The act of specializing or the process of becoming specialized.
2. Biology.
   1. Adaptation, as of an organ or organism, to a specific function or environment.
   2. A character, feature, or organism resulting from such adaptation.

A method of production where a business or area focuses on the production of a limited scope of products or services in order to gain greater degrees of productive efficiency within the entire system of businesses or areas. Many countries specialize in producing the goods and services that are native to their part of the world. This specialization is the basis of global trade as few countries produce enough goods to be completely self-sufficient.

Investopedia Says:
Specialization also occurs within the United States, for example, as citrus goods naturally occur in the warmer climate of the South and West, many grain products come from the farms of the Midwest and maple syrup comes from the maple trees of Vermont and New Hampshire.

Specialization can also refer to production, for example when in a factory an assembly line is organized in a specialized manner rather than producing the entire product at one production station.

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The limiting of professional services to one isolated and distinct phase of dental practice.

A career option pursued by some attorneys that entails the acquisition of detailed knowledge of, and proficiency in, a particular area of law.

As the law in the United States becomes increasingly complex and covers a greater number of subjects, more and more attorneys are narrowing their practice to a limited field or fields. Even small-town general practitioners limit the range of matters they handle to some degree, if only out of practical necessity. Although specialization has become commonplace, the formal recognition and regulation of specialties are still controversial issues in the legal profession.

In the 1950s the Special Committee on Specialization and Specialized Legal Education of the American Bar Association (ABA) considered whether it should identify, recognize, and regulate legal specialists. In 1969 the ABA decided not to promulgate a national plan to regulate legal specialization until some initial specialization plans could be studied at the state level. In 1971 California became the first state to adopt a pilot specialization program. Florida adopted a designation plan in 1976, and Texas adopted a full certification plan in 1980. Several other states followed suit in the 1980s.

In the late 1970s, the ABA adopted several ethical and disciplinary rules that addressed some of the issues presented by attorney specialization. Disciplinary rule 2-102(5) restricted the headings that attorneys could list themselves under in telephone books or other directories. Disciplinary rule 2-102(6) allowed lawyers to list the areas of law in which they practiced but did not allow them to state that they specialized in those fields. Disciplinary rule 2-105 prohibited lawyers from holding themselves out as specialists in certain areas of law, except for patent and trademark lawyers in states that authorized and approved of those fields of specialization. Ethical consideration 2-14 also suggested that with the exception of admiralty, trademark, and patent lawyers, lawyers should not represent to the public that they are specialists with special training or ability.

Also in the late 1970s, the ABA House of Delegates adopted a resolution that recommended that several elements be included in any state specialization program. The ABA Standing Committee on Specialization began assisting states in defining and identifying specialty fields and in establishing basic regulatory guidelines.

In 1979 the ABA adopted the Model Plan of Specialization, which incorporated the earlier principles and guidelines developed by the Standing Committee on Specialization. The ABA reached a compromise between two popular types of specialization plans that had developed in the states: designation and certification plans. Designation plans established basic requisites for specialist recognition, such as a minimum number of years in practice and a minimum number of continuing legal education classes, but did not review the expertise of the applicants through an examination. Under the designation plans, lawyers had to apply to designate themselves as specialists in a certain field, and that application had to be approved by the state. However, the standards were not very stringent. In contrast, certification plans required a prior review of the applicant's credentials, such as through a written examination, and also required certain minimum standards. Most certifying mechanisms required that applicants be licensed to practice law, be substantially involved in a particular area of law (such as devoting 25 percent of their practice to their specialty), and be involved in continuing legal education and peer review.

By 1990 thirteen states had formal plans for the recognition and regulation of legal specialties. That number continues to grow, as states adopt designation or certification plans or some variation of the two. The growth of state specialization plans was boosted considerably after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, 433 U.S. 350, 97 S. Ct. 2691, 53 L. Ed. 2d 810 (1977), in which the Court held that states cannot prevent lawyers from advertising. Court decisions since Bates have held that states may regulate attorney advertising to protect the public from false, misleading, or deceptive advertising. Many state specialization plans, therefore, were developed to regulate how lawyers portrayed themselves and their practice areas to the public through advertising and other communications.

Until the 1980s, it was not uncommon for a lawyer to advertise that his practice was limited to certain areas of law, but it was commonly believed that if a lawyer advertised himself as a specialist in a certain field, he implied a degree of special competence. Courts considered state regulation of specialty designations to be justified to protect the public from misleading or deceptive advertising.

In 1983 the ABA adopted the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, some of which addressed the issues presented by attorney specialization. Model rule 7.4, for example, provided that a lawyer could not state or imply that she was a specialist in any area except admiralty, patent, or trademark law unless she was specially certified or recognized under a formal state specialization plan. By that time attorneys were being certified by several national organizations, such as the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA), which certified trial specialists. Because these organizations were not formal state plans, the issue arose as to whether attorneys certified by such organizations could call themselves specialists. The courts addressed this issue by suggesting that states either screen the certifying organizations or require them to issue disclaimers indicating that they were not authorized by the state.

Most of the states that have enacted some formal recognition plan have adopted certification rather than designation plans. These plans recognize a number of specialty areas, including civil trial practice, criminal trial practice, family law, tax law, and real estate law. The ABA has drafted model standards for specialization in several other areas as well; these standards include the administrative procedures necessary to implement the plans.

Despite the growing trend toward lawyer specialization, there is widespread opposition to formal specialization plans. Many lawyers feel that the state's interest in regulating claims of expertise is not as important as the individual's First Amendment right to advertise. Other lawyers, especially general practitioners, feel that the formal recognition of specialization detracts from the presumption that any lawyer licensed to practice law is competent to handle any legal problem. They also fear that formal specialization programs will lead to a class system, with general practitioners or nonspecialists relegated to a second-class status. Attorneys who practice in rural or isolated areas make the practical objection that due to their locations, they do not have access to enough continuing legal education opportunities to qualify as specialists.

Attorneys who support specialization plans argue that the plans lead to more competent lawyers by requiring specialists to attend many continuing legal education courses and to provide evidence of their expertise before being recognized as specialists. Some also argue that specialization plans lead to improved delivery of legal services to the public by providing more accurate information about lawyers and their specialties.

As lawyers advertise in increasing numbers, they are also finding more formats in which to advertise such as telephone books, radio, television, newspapers, journals, magazines, the Internet, direct mail, and billboards. Although advertising makes it easier for the public to find a lawyer and learn more about that lawyer, it can lead to misrepresentation or misunderstanding. Thus, in dealing with the issue of legal specialization, the legal profession is striving to reach a compromise between the need to protect the public from false or misleading advertisement and the First Amendment right of lawyers to advertise with minimal state regulation.

See: Attorney; Continuing Legal Education; Ethics; Legal Advertising.

(DOD) An arrangement within an alliance wherein a member or group of members most suited by virtue of technical skills, location, or other qualifications assume(s) greater responsibility for a specific task or significant portion thereof for one or more other members.

"Specialized" redirects here. For the bicycle company, see Specialized Bicycle Components.

Look up Specialization in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

In general, specialization is the opposite of generalization. In particular, "specialization" may refer to:

Logic:

• Specialization (logic)

Academia:

• Academic specialization

Biology:

• Specialization (biology)
• Cell differentiation
• Specialization (functional)
• Specialization of organs
• Specialization of the sexes
• Specialty (medicine)

Business:

• Specialized Bicycle Components, Bicycle manufacturer

Computer science:

• Sub-typing
• Partial template specialization
• Template specialization

Industry:

• Departmentalization
• Division of labour
• Flexible Specialization
• Specialization (functional)

Mathematics:

• Specialization (pre)order

Psychology:

• Cognitive specialization
• Specialization of knowledge

Other:

• Geographical specialization

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Common misspelling(s) of specialized

• speciallized