You can, but it does not reliably save money, and the process has more friction than people expect. Attorneys can legally write a purchase contract, and in California an attorney can become a licensed broker fairly easily based on existing education. The catch is access. The standard, association-approved purchase contracts and disclosures come through membership in the local real estate board. Without them, you are handing the other side a non-standard contract, and the listing agent will often reject it because it lacks the built-in protections everyone expects. Then there is cost. Attorneys typically bill hourly, and a good one is expensive (we know one who charges around $1,000 an hour). An attorney willing to work for a flat, low fee is often a sign they are not busy, which is its own warning. And billing by the hour, they generally will not do the work an agent does anyway: showings, scheduling inspections, negotiating with the other agent, reviewing the appraisal, and managing the timeline to close. On commissions, the rules changed with the NAR settlement. Commission has always been negotiable, and now it is disclosed and agreed up front rather than preset. So the real question is who actually performs the tasks that protect you through the transaction. For most buyers and sellers, an attorney works best as a supplement for tricky legal questions rather than a full replacement for an agent.