Real estate is an exciting but often complicated part of life. A real estate attorney often helps people through the entire process of buying or selling real estate. The real value of a qualified attorney in this field may depend on the complexity of the transaction or on the experience level of a person. Sometimes, real estate issues impact other issues important to a person, such as managing their taxes and their estate. Some attorneys are skilled in working with a person’s estate planning, tax and real estate investment issues. Other times, a lawyer may only represent a person in a real estate closing itself. In some states, attorneys play a lesser role because some of the duties an attorney might otherwise provide are handled by escrow companies.