Do real estate lawyers work in "puppy mills"?

Have you ever wondered what is the biggest area of negligence claims against Ontario lawyers?

As it turns out, it's in real estate law! According to a recent article in the Law Times, 36% of all claims involving Ontario lawyers involved real estate law.

What's to account for this high concentration of claims in one area of law? As the article mentions, there's no doubt that some lawyers dabble in real estate law. However, many lawyers concentrate a good percentage of their time doing real estate closings, but are faced with the same pressures as any other business owner to keep their costs down in order to stay competitive in the marketplace. 

I love a quote in the Law Times article which describes some law offices with high volume real estate law practices as "puppy mills where they crank out real estate deals using paralegals or secretaries". I think this comment is a little harsh. Consumers want efficiency and no one wants to be paying a lawyer or anyone else to be 'reinventing the wheel' on each real estate law file. But, there's a balance to be struck between efficiency and managing the risks associated with buying or selling real estate.  

The availability of title insurance does give some homebuyers a (sometimes) false sense of security. Having said that, I cannot think of a time when I've ever convinced a homebuyer to fork out $2500.00 for a new survey, when they could conveniently purchase a title insurance policy for $250.00.

It's a question of the client understanding the risks that they are taking on- in foregoing the need for an updated survey, for example.

This blog is intended as general information only and does not constitute legal advice about real estate law. If you need legal advice, please speak to a lawyer.

Kerry Fox practices real estate law in Nepean, Ontario.