SURVEY

by
Courtland L. Traver*

We often need to look to the past to see where the practice of real estate is going in the future. Thus, this survey.

In the mid-sixties, the Virginia Bar was barely over 6,000 members and a survey then revealed that well over one-half of the Bar considered themselves a "real estate lawyer." In those days home closing (including financing) were a staple of every real estate lawyer's practice and often were closed with an attorney doing the title and recording with an Attorney's Certificate of Title instead of title insurance. The real estate section has maintained second place in total number of members of the State Bar to the trial lawyer sections over the years, so in percentages, the percentage of real estate lawyers may not have changed very much, but in actual numbers the number appears to have gone up by a factor of four. Our section is one of the most active of any of the State Bar's sections. Our annual real estate seminar is one of the most well attended seminars the Virginia CLE Committee puts on. Our publication, the FEE SIMPLE, is without peer in the Commonwealth, and I have never seen anything like it in any other state bar.

I believe that the so-called proposed "Bundling Rules" of RESPA will be promulgated next year, and I believe that the role of a lawyer in the home purchase/financing closing areas in Virginia will diminish further and perhaps disappear altogether as a result of these new rules.

If our section is to continue its services to our members as it has in the past, it needs insight as to what the future holds for our members and what our section members will need from our section. Therefore, it is important to survey our section members about their current practice areas and solicit their views about the future as each member sees it. Hopefully the results will be in and analyzed by the time the Advanced Real Estate seminar is held in April, where the survey and the future of real estate practice in Virginia will be discussed. We will also publish a summary in a later issue of the FEE SIMPLE.

We would like any information, comments, advice, or insight which you feel worthy of comment on any matter whatsoever. We would also solicit your views on any legislation in respect to the practice of real estate law in the Commonwealth to be enacted, proposed, or needed. If you are not inclined or are too busy to fill in the survey, just call me or any other section member and give them your views and your comments.

Finally, all of our section members need to give their heartfelt thanks to Dean Lynda Butler. She is the heart, body, and soul that holds the FEE SIMPLE together. Her touch, editorial skills and insight give each issue the polish that makes the FEE SIMPLE what it is today.

*Courtland L. Traver practiced with McGuireWoods, L.L.P., and now lives in Williamsburg, Virginia where he is an Adjunct Professor at William and Mary School of Law and Co-Editor of the FEE SIMPLE.

For your convenience, the survey is available in

You may download the form to your computer in order to complete the questions before returning (snail mail or e-mail or fax) to the Section c/o Courtland L. Traver.

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