standards could be developed that could be adopted by the Arkansas Bar Association, setting a standard of
If you put an experienced forensic surveyor on the stand, he is apt to back up his testimony by referring to a rather comprehensive book of "principles" which guide the work of the profession, compiled by a fellow named Brown.! A title lawyer needs to be welJversed in the law of boundary lines, prescription, bankruptcy, probate, taxation, domestic relations, and land use, just for starters. And all he or she has to lean on are the 1962 effort by Sandlin and Cathey' and Prof. Simes' model guidelines.2 The problem may be compounded by the pervasive perception, among laymen and non-title lawyers, that this dearth of standards is no big deal. After all, title questions generally have simple and obvious answers. Right? Wrong, wrong, wrong. (See sidebar.) A matter of belief... The flip side of this perception frequently has been excessive or inconsistent caution on the part of lawyers passing on title for buyers or title companies. This mindset is typified by the buyer's lawyer who held up a closing (although it delayed his weekly
8 ARKANSAS LAWYER
SUMMER 1994
care in this area. Then-President Lamar bowling match) by insisting on a release of dower by the wives of partners selling partnership real estate, saying: "Yes, I'm aware of that Uniform Partnership Act-but, I've just never much believed in it!" More seriously, this sort of inconsistency and excess creates unnecessary expense for clients, and reinforces public impatience with, and distrust of, the law generally and lawyers in particular. It is especially burdensome for "landmen:' those people who sign up landowners for mineral leases-they have to make on the spot determinations as to title, with little guidance. Two hats. One mission... It was his experience, both as a
land man and as a lawyer, that impressed Jim O'Hem of Fort Smith with the need for uniform title examination standards in Arkansas. After a couple of years preparing his case for presentation to the
atural
Resources Section, Jim was appointed to chair a subcommittee charged with developing standards in cooperation with the Real Estate Committee. Bob Avery of Lake Village came on
Pettus released Association funds to assist the group with their expenses. A draft was presented at the Annual Meeting this year, to introduce the proposal to the bar at large and to begin a year of discussions and refinements, with a goal of Association endorsement at the 1995 Annual Meeting. Thirty years later... The drafting group started with the 1962 law review article, the Simes treatise, and standards developed in other states, especially Oklahoma. However, the proposed standards are not in any sense mineral-interest specific-the questions of ownership are precisely the same for land men, home-buyers and commercial lenders. The product (which continues to evolve) consists of twenty-two exhaustive chapters, dealing with issues such as what should go in an abstractor's certificate; when to require a death certificate; and when correction deeds are and are not permissible or appropriate. None of the proposed standards change the law or provide answers to
board for the Committee. Jim and Bob
previously unanswered questions.
gathered a core drafting group-J.H.
They merely put the questions and
Evans, Gerald DeLung, Dorsey Ryan,
those answers dictated by the best
Tom Daily-the six of them
practice in the field in the same place,
devoting many nights and weekends
including some suggestions for
to the project. Their hope has been that
curative steps.