The emphasis is on building practical skills

The Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law, nearly 30,000 members strong, is the authoritative voice of the real estate, trust and estate planning lawyers in the country. The section continues to introduce programs, projects and initiatives to meet the needs of its members and to provide helpful information to the public.

Substantive committees and groups are critical to the operation of the section. They are central in coordinating and presenting programming at our fall and spring continuing legal education (CLE) meetings. Many have regular conference calls to discuss hot topics in their particular area and afford an opportunity for attorneys across the country to talk with others on an informal basis about issues important to their practices. Each substantive group has a Web site where members can post articles and other information. The section believes another important way to keep itself vital, strong and relevant is to provide solid, practical training for young lawyers and to involve them in the work of the section. The section presents a Young Lawyers Institute — a full day of CLE programming expressly designed for attorneys who are new to the fields of real estate or trust and estate law — at our Spring Symposia. The section has inducted its eighth class of Young Lawyer fellows. These young lawyers who have demonstrated a commitment to the profession are given an opportunity to help in the substantive work of the section and develop as future leaders. The section presents a week-long skills training for estate planners program each summer that focuses on providing basic practical skills for young estate-planning attorneys, as well as more experienced attorneys who are changing the focus of their practices to estate planning. The section coordinates free community outreach CLE programs in a variety of cities primarily for young and minority attorneys. The programs are presented weekly in two-hour sessions over seven to 14 weeks in separate real estate and estate-planning programs, designed to teach lawyers what they never learned in law school but need to know to get started in a specialized field.