Message from the Chair

Randall Block

The State Bar of California and the Real Property Law Section might not be what you think they are.

The State Bar is first and foremost a disciplinary organization, designed to protect the public, the courts, and the profession from attorneys who violate ethical rules covering their professional conduct. It is what is known as a unified, or integrated bar, which means simply that membership is mandatory for all attorneys who are licensed to practice law in the State. To practice law in California, applicants must pass the California Bar Examination given by the State Bar and pay their annual membership fees. Almost all of those fees go to support the Bar’s disciplinary function.

Affiliated with the State Bar are sixteen State Bar sections (Sections). In contrast with the State Bar, the Sections are voluntary organizations of attorneys and others who share an area of interest. (You do not even need to be an attorney to belong to one of the Sections.) If you are reading this, you likely belong to the Real Property Law Section (RPLS). The State Bar’s website says that the Sections offer members a greater voice in the programs of the State Bar and up-to-date information on developments in a particular field of law. In fact, they do much more. Some have observed that the Sections affiliated with the State Bar are where the rubber meets the road; most of the work that goes on that directly speaks to most of you and your practices occurs in the Sections.