1.  Liability - I am concerned not with the liability of any individual abstractor, but the LLC as a whole.  If the work is being ordered from the LLC - don't we run the risk of being brought in to a suit any time one of the members makes a mistake?  I can't imagine what that E&O policy would cost.  The LLC is a separate entity, just like a corporation.  The participants would simply be shareholders.  Someone will be the end of the pencil and own a majority share.  At some point, maybe a year, maybe several years, the minority interests will get squeezed.  It happens in the best of organizations.  Basically, we will be giving ourselves another client which will have the same liability as any other company.

2.  Lack of Choice - If we get a less than thorough abstractor that buys in we would be "obligated" to assign them work, even if we find out they don't do the quality we expect.  As a client company, there is no real obligation to assign work if the quality is not there.  In the end, it will be a matter of honor...is there any of us that would not understand not honoring a contract if it will be detrimental to the whole?

3. Lack of Control - With 1 to 2 thousand members of the LLC, who is going to be in charge?  I think everyone would want to do things "their" way, and as an owner, they might expect it.  I think that going into this LLC concept, everyone will have to understand that although they are "buying in", they are only paying a client to give them work and market for abstractors in general.  It is not possible to have more than one chief. 

4. Independent Mentality - We are all used to working independently.  I'll bet "plays well with others" wasn't something seen on most of our kindergarden report cards.  Though it is truly what is lacking, how do we convince everyone it is in their best interest to work with their competition?  We work with our competition everyday.  Like any other company who has certain expectations, the LLC will spell them out and the abstractor will have to adhere.  Don't we all have some clients that provide their own forms or tell us exactly what they want us to search?

5. Competition - You really can't discuss possible problems without including outside competition from other vendor management companies.  Other vendor management companies are trying to force abstractors into working for less, and using the cheapest they can find.  If other vendor management companies are offering a lower price, we would need to compete soley based on quality - that can be a really tough sell to potential clients.  Can we structure this so that we can charge the prices we do for a quality search, and still offer a lower price to the client.  An LLC will be another vendor management company.  We will need to compete with them toe to toe.

I'll repeat here, NALTEA is already set up to market on behalf of competent abstractors everywhere.  I have never had a difficult time getting clients, even in tough times.  You just pick up the phone and do it.  While NALTEA is giving us credentials and marketing to the industry the importance of using NALTEA members to do searches, we will also be following competency guidelines that set us apart from everyone else.  I'm guessing this is not what some of you want to hear, but creating an LLC is setting up another company...and asking SOT members to contribute is asking for SOT members to fund it like shareholders, but without the benefit of a guarantee.  If all SOT members are going to be shareholders of the LLC, are they all going to be listed on the "creating" document?  Of course not.  Having NALTEA form this service brings credibility to that organization and to its members.

Hope I haven't offended anyone, that was not my intention.