Shoot me later for copying and pasting but..oh well - I found it through google.
Hope it helps.
Posted by Paul Williamson 1/30/2010:
"Conducting a real estate closing in SC is the practice of law (as defined by the SC courts and statutes), which only an attorney can do. Any reputable mortgage lender will require that an attorney be selected to conduct the closing. The choice of the closing attorney is up to the borrower, but often allows the lender to select the attorney and/or law firm to handle the closing.
Of the attorneys that I have spoken to or searched their websites for information on whether or not an attorney needs to be physically present and conduct the closing, all but one said that non-attorneys may not conduct the closing and the presence of the closing attorney is required. The one dissenting attorney didn't come out and say that "phone" presence is acceptable, but didn't rule it out either, citing an example of a SC property closing where the attorney was not physically present, but conducted the closing via telephone with a non-attorney representative from his firm.
The Supreme Court of South Carolina issued a memorandum to all attorneys (see http://www.judicial.state.sc.us/whatsnew/displaywhatsnew.cfm?indexID=575) regarding "Guidelines for Attorneys Conducting Residential Real Estate Closings".
The SC Bar Ethics Advisory committee stated in their newsletters:
Attorneys are advised to read these opinions carefully for guidance. While the Committee cannot issue a formal opinion on unauthorized practice issues, the consensus of the Committee is that a fair reading of these cases indicates that all aspects of real estate transactions must be conducted or supervised by lawyers. See Watson , 589 S.E.2d at 761. In addition, the cases have indicated specifically that a lawyer should be “physically present” at a closing. See Lester, 578 S.E.2d at 7."
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