Hagan & Van Camp, P.S., Respondent, v. Kassler Escrow, Inc., Petitioner, 96 Wn.2d 443

Summary

Wash. Rev. Code § 19.62 authorized escrow agents and other lay persons to perform certain actions with regard to real estate or personal property transactions. The trial court denied the escrow company's motion to dismiss the action for injunctive relief and declared § 19.62 unconstitutional. The court affirmed and remanded the matter for trial. The court found that § 19.62 authorized almost any person of reasonable intelligence involved with real estate transactions to prepare documents affecting legal rights, thus allowing those persons to engage in the practice of law. The court stated that: (1) the fact that escrow agents must comply with licensing requirements and warn parties in real estate transactions to seek legal advice if desired did not eliminate the danger of such agents performing legal services; and (2) the legislature's enactment of § 19.62 violated Wash. Const. art. 4, § 1 wherein the state supreme court was given the exclusive power to regulate the practice of law.