Tuesday, April 22, 2025 

In an order that’s already making the rounds for its eloquence and urgency, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III wrote something that stopped me in my tracks. Reflecting on the responsibilities of the judiciary, he said:

“The Executive may view the ends as all-important; we cannot. Our branch is about the means. Our duty is to ensure that the process comports with the Constitution, the statutes, and the ordered liberty they protect.”

He was making a constitutional point, of course—defending the role of the courts in holding the line, especially when process is inconvenient or messy or misunderstood. But as I read that line, I didn’t think only of judges. I thought of title professionals.

Title examiners, escrow officers, underwriters—they’re not chasing headlines or policy goals. Their job is the means. The process. The quiet, often invisible work of making sure that property rights transfer cleanly, that legal records are accurate, that buyers get what they think they’re buying and lenders have secured the asset they believe they’re lending on. It isn’t glamorous; but it is essential.

And here’s the deeper connection that really struck me: the courts were deliberately set up to be counter-majoritarian. They are not meant to move with the will of the crowd or the momentum of the moment. In fact, they are often called upon to slow things down, to say, “Not so fast,” when individual rights or other fundamental issues are at stake.

In much the same way, a title company doesn’t exist to keep pace with the rush of a hot market or to rubber-stamp every closing. Sometimes, it must slow a transaction down. Sometimes, it has to ask hard questions, call for more documentation, or even put a deal on pause. Not to be difficult—but to ensure, and literally to insure, that the transfer is valid, legal, and secure. Like the courts, title professionals are built to resist pressure and act as a safeguard, not an accelerant.

In a world that’s increasingly focused on outcomes, did the sale close? did the numbers hit? did the tasks get done?—we sometimes forget that how we get there matters just as much as whether we got there. In fact, in the realm of real estate, skipping steps or ignoring process can cause years of chaos and hardship down the road. Title professionals know this. They’ve seen what happens when shortcuts are taken.

Just like the courts, the title industry doesn’t exist to speed things up or smooth things over. It exists to ensure the transfer of property is done with care, legality, and fairness. The process is the point. It’s the safeguard.

Judge Wilkinson was speaking about a person’s right to due process under the law. Title professionals uphold a different kind of foundational right —the right to confidently claim, peacefully keep, and (eventually) clearly pass along private property.  In both realms, the real work is happening behind the scenes, via the deliberate application of law, tradition, and responsibility.

So if you’re someone who works in title, this post is a little reminder: what you do matters. Not because of the volume you move, or how fast you close, but because you uphold the means. And in that, you protect the integrity of the system itself.

Until Next Time,

Mary Schuster
Chief Knowledge Officer
October Research, LLC