and we are unpersuaded that the time has come to change the policy with regard to lay conveyances or witness-only closings. Accordingly, we hereby approve UPL Advisory Opinion No. 2003-2. UPL Advisory Opinion approved. All the Justices concur. 1 State Bar Rule 14-9.1 (b) empowers the Standing Committee on the Unlicensed Prac tice of Law to address inquiries regarding the unauthorized practice of law. 2 “Lay conveyancing,” authorized by statute in some states, is generally defined as the practice by which non-lawyers close real estate transactions, provide settlement services, or select, prepare and complete certain real estate closing documents. See Va. Code Ann. § 6.1-2.19 (2003) (consumer protection statute authorizing lay settlement services); Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-35-125 (2002) (<HOLDING>); Minn. Stat. § 481.02 (2002) (exempting
holding witness not licensed as real estate appraiser could not testify as expert on real estate valuation where statute made it unlawful to engage in real estate appraisal without license holding the real estate sale proceeds holding that a tax appeal on real property is a lien on the real estate and not a personal obligation of the landowner holding prospectively that a vendees interest in a real estate contract constitutes real estate within the meaning of the judgment lien statute recognizing authority of nonlawyers to close real estate transactions