RPLS Leadership Statement

By Co-Chairpersons Steven W. DeLateur and Tara Burd

Welcome to the 2019-2020 RPLS ExCom Year! As the incoming Co-Chairs, we are so excited for all the opportunities the California Lawyers Association Real Property Law Section has to offer.  This marks the beginning of the first full ExCom year that the Sections will have the support of full-time staff from an organization that puts the Sections and lawyer services first. Although the CLA is only a year and a half old, we are blessed with the benefits left to us by the State Bar: a 6,000-person Section membership, statewide and nationwide leadership opportunities, and a direct line to the Legislature and California Supreme Court.  For those interested in CLA-wide opportunities, government affairs, drafting legislation, or additional leadership opportunities, please let us know and we will connect you with the right person or committee.  Also, be sure to read the monthly CLA Leadership emails for a snapshot of what is happening.

Our Section also has an amazing monthly e-bulletin that ExCom member John (J.R.) Richards rebuilt last year to be a content-rich snapshot of the RPLS’s monthly activities.  This is really important for our members because we are one of the most active sections and we need our members to know about all of the benefits and services we offer.  We encourage you to regularly read the e-bulletin so that you can stay up-to-date on our Section, and to see how you may contribute. 

 As a reminder, here are some of the Section offerings to our membership:

• Real Property Law Journal (scholarly articles, 4 per year)
• E-bulletin (summaries and snapshots, monthly)
• Webinars (with MCLE Credit)
• What’s Up Webinars (information based)
• Half-day Seminars
• Multi-day Spring Conference
• Lunch or happy hour in-person seminars
• Networking-only events
• Podcasts (in process)

We look forward to hearing from each of you regarding what you like about our Section’s activities and what you suggest we should be doing differently.

A very special “thank you” goes out to our outgoing Co-Chairs, Neil Kalin and Thomas Lombardi, for their seemingly boundless energy and commitment to our Section. They supported all of our events in a way that contributed greatly to the success of the ExCom and the Section during the past year. We are so thankful that they are staying on as Advisors so that we can continue to benefit from their commitment and experience.

Throughout the coming year, we look forward to meeting as many of you as possible at one or more of our fabulous events. With your participation and suggestions, we are confident that our Section will achieve great results this year.  Many thanks for your commitment to the Real Property Law Section.