I do agree that as a whole the attorneys that mainly practice in the real estate arena are better abstractors than the average lay abstractor.  However, there are a lot of attorneys that 'dabble' in real estate that don't have a clue.  I have seen many title problems caused by divorce attorneys, and those who do estate planning, that make me cringe. 

Also, there are many abstractors that are much better than the average in the industry - especially lately.  There are many incompetent abstractors that were never properly trained that tend to give us bad reputation.

When I started abstracting, there was one county I covered that was dominated by attorneys.  They complained all the time about having to deal with title problems created by a poorly prepared title search and they made it clear that abstracting titles should be left to the attorneys.  However, a couple of years ago, the largest attorney owned-title agency in that county fired their attorney/abstractor and asked us to do all of their title work. 

When it comes down to it, law degree or not, proper training and experience makes a good abstractor.  Proper training, experience, AND a law degree is probably the best combination because law school does provide a deeper understanding of how the title issues relate to everything else.  But, for title work, I would prefer a good abstractor with experience over a lawyer who has never searched a title.

Best,
Robert A. Franco
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