RPPTL committed to service: the section currently has more than 80 legislative positions.

It may be 50 years old and The Florida Bar's biggest section, but the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section is still seeking fresh challenges.

Section Chair Melissa Murphy recently delivered the section's annual report to the Bar Board of Governors, outlining the group's traditional and newer activities.

Speaking shortly after Florida's Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink called on the Bar to help Florida families facing home foreclosures, Murphy said that RPPTL has an active pro bono program and will look at becoming involved in that issue.

(Sink said she had been told that in Jacksonville alone, sheriff's deputies were performing 600 evictions per month. See stories above.)

"The Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section is very active, we're very committed to service. We look forward to working with The Florida Bar's leadership that is in place now and in the future," Murphy said.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

She began her report by noting that the section, which has about 9,950 members, celebrated its 50th anniversary last year.

With such a large membership and a broad range of interests, the section executive council has about 200 members to oversee its operations. The council meets five times a year.

"Those meetings take three days. We have two days of committee meetings and then the third day is our business meeting when we hear reports and take actions," Murphy said.

There is a lot to do at those meetings. She said the section probably sponsors more CLE than any other Bar section, with the exception of the Young Lawyers Division.

That schedule includes nine CLE seminars in the current Bar year, including three certification review courses, one course co-sponsored with the Environmental and Land Use Law Section, another for both lawyers and bank trust officers, a new construction law institute set for this month, and the section's annual and popular legislative update program.

"We're constantly exploring ways to improve our CLE program so it can be delivered and take advantage of the current technology that is available to us," Murphy said.

The section is active in legislative activities. The section currently has more than 80 legislative positions and it is also active in monitoring proposed legislation that RPPTL members feel would be unwise public policy.

Aside from those specific issues, the section has tackled...