Publication Date
2005
Abstract
America is in the midst of an explosion in the demand for legal services, yet few Americans can afford to pay the ever-increasing cost of legal fees and are thus continually deprived of access to the legal system. Non lawyers have responded to this problem by entering the market and attempting to provide basic legal services at deeply discounted rates. Under the guise of "consumer protection," the bar has responded by blocking non lawyers from 'practicing law" with unauthorized practice statutes. A debate has emerged over whether UPL statutes actually serve American consumers or merely guard the legal cartel's economic interests. Nowhere is this debate more heated than in the market for residential real estate settlement services. This Note surveys that debate and argues for measures that minimally restrict competition while protecting the consumer at residential real estate closings. Further,it suggests measures that can be applied beyond the residential real estate sector to the market for legal services as a whole.
Recommended Citation
Rentz, Margaret O.
(2005)
"Laying Down the Law: Bringing Down the Legal Cartel in Real Estate Settlement Services and Beyond,"
Georgia Law Review: Vol. 40:
No.
1, Article 7.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/glr/vol40/iss1/7
Included in
Consumer Protection Law Commons, Housing Law Commons, Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons, Legal Profession Commons, Property Law and Real Estate Commons
