The bar's dedicated servants.

• Author: Angones, Francisco R.
• Position: The Florida Bar - President's page

In the October issue of The Florida Bar Journal, I described the makeup, background, and obligations of the Board of Governors, but the work of The Florida Bar does not stop with the board, although it might be the most visible group. Much of the Bar's work is carried out through sections and committees.

Sections provide a forum for members to focus their involvement on an area of the law in which they are interested. There is no limit to the number of members that a section can have. The Bar's 20 sections cover virtually any practice: administrative law; appellate practice; business law; criminal law; elder law; environment and land use; equal opportunities; entertainment, arts, and sports; family law; governmental lawyers; general practice; health; international law; labor and employment; local government; public interest; real property, probate and trust law; trial lawyers; tax; and workers' compensation.

If you have an interest in real property and/or probate law, you should join the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section. If you have an interest in civil trial work, then you should join the Trial Lawyers Section.

Committee membership, on the other hand, is limited in number, and members are appointed to staggered terms by the president-elect of The Florida Bar. Our president-elect is Jay White, who currently is asking Bar members to apply for membership on the committee(s) on which they may want to serve. This has been advertised in The Florida Bar News and on the Web site.

The time to apply for committees is now. The deadline for applications is January 15, and the preference form can be found on the Bar's Web site, www.floridabar.org. By April 2008, Jay will have made all appointments for the 2008-09 Bar year.

Many factors go into the appointment of committee members. Among them are geographic diversity, diversity in practice areas, racial, ethnic, and gender diversity, and foremost experience and demonstrated interest.

Thousands of volunteer hours are contributed annually by the Bar's 20 sections, two divisions, and 66 standing committees. It is often repeated that these groups are the backbone of the Bar and their time devoted to service benefits not only the legal profession but also our clients and the state of Florida.

More than 30,000 of The Florida Bar's 82,000 members belong to one or more of the Bar's sections and Out of State Division, while more than 2,100 serve on standing committees.

Section membership is voluntary...