Calloway Title and Escrow · Pearl Anniversary · 1996–2026
A pearl anniversary marks thirty years built layer by layer over time — a fitting metaphor for Calloway Title and Escrow.
In the thirty years since S. Marcus Calloway founded the firm in 1996, Calloway Title has grown from a small Atlanta practice into one of the most respected commercial title and escrow agencies operating on a national scale.
To mark the anniversary, we gathered thirty “Pearls of Wisdom” from the mentors, clients, underwriters, attorneys and colleagues who have shaped the firm over three decades. For developers and investors who choose their title partner carefully, these pearls are worth reading.
Where It All Began: One Attorney, One Vision Atlanta, 1996
S. Marcus Calloway did not stumble into title law. He earned his law degree from Woodrow Wilson College of Law in 1976 and opened his own firm, S. Marcus Calloway, P.C., the following year. After partnering with Ramsay and Calloway Title Services in 1989, he formally founded Calloway Title and Escrow, LLC in 1996.
The philosophy he built it on was deceptively simple: work harder and smarter than the competition, and always place the client’s needs above the firm’s own. No shortcuts. No tricks. Just relentless rigor applied to some of real estate’s thorniest problems.
Pearl No. 1 — “We are never going to be the cheapest, we are never going to be the fastest, we are just going to have to settle with being the best.” — S. Marcus Calloway
That bet paid off. Within a few years, the firm had earned Chicago Title’s President’s Agents Council designation, followed by the Platinum Partners Circle Award—an honor it would hold for nearly two decades. Marcus himself was named the Southeast Land Title Association’s Title Person of the Year in 2017 and received the George A. Pindar Award from the State Bar of Georgia in 2013. Client after client described him the same way: an icon, a mentor, a man who changed the title insurance business for consumers by making it user-friendly.
Pearl No. 2 — “Goodwill is priceless.” — S. Marcus Calloway
Knowing what Marcus gave to the law, his clients and his community, this pearl carries particular weight. He was a founding member of Angels on Earth (benefitting Piedmont Hospital’s Cancer Wellness Center), a contributor to The Giving Kitchen and Men Stopping Violence, a champion of professional rugby in Atlanta and a mentor to countless young attorneys and title professionals. He lived by his motto: Respect all. Fear none. Expect victory.
We lost Marcus on December 29, 2021. His voice runs through every pearl in this collection.
The Craft of Commercial Title: What Most Firms Miss Expertise earned the hard way
The difference between a competent title agency and a great one often comes down to a single examiner who digs one document deeper or one attorney who refuses to take “no” from an underwriter.
When other firms have come up short, clients are routinely referred to Calloway Title as the agency of (first and) last resort. That reputation was guided by people who understood simplicities the industry sometimes forgets:
Pearl No. 3 — “Liens are like roaches—when you see one, there are usually more.” — Leonard R. Gray, Jr.
Pearl No. 4 — “Read the documents.” — Michael Dugan
Pearl No. 5 — “There is no such thing as a problem in real estate that can’t be fixed. Some problems are more expensive than others, but every problem should be approached as ‘fixable,’ limited only by the creativity of the problem solver.” — Louise Wells
Pearl No. 6 — “It’s easy to say no to anything. Being a great underwriter means figuring out if there is any way to say yes.” — Ted Morris
This orientation—toward solutions, not obstacles—is cultural at Calloway Title. Because we work with all major national underwriters, we can bring clients options, not ultimatums. When the standard path is blocked, our team finds another one. As one longtime client put it: “I am continually surprised by the extreme efforts made by Calloway Title to get titles and title insurance resolved, and the project closed.”
Pearl No. 7 — “You may not think that you have a ‘Drawer of Woe.’ But you do.” — T. Matthew Mashburn
Every developer and investor has one. The Drawer of Woe is where the title problems that didn’t get caught live—the encroachments, the unreleased mortgages, the mechanics’ liens from contractors who were never fully paid. Calloway Title’s job is to make sure your drawer stays empty.
People Do Business With People They Like. The relationship philosophy behind the firm
Title work is technical. It is also deeply relational. The investors and developers who have worked with Calloway Title for decades have done so because the firm understands that the transaction is never the whole relationship. The relationship is the whole relationship.
Pearl No. 8 — “People do business with people they like.” — Amanda F. Calloway
Pearl No. 9 — “Pick up the telephone. Meet in person. Make the other person the most important in the room… Your client base will change roughly every three years or so, but people’s memories are long if you have worked to establish a relationship and done excellent legal work.” — Jim Ney
Pearl No. 10 — “Develop a good relationship with your competitors. We have all encountered situations that we need to discuss with competitors to see how they handled it. We all want to achieve good results for our clients. The exchange of information is helpful in reaching that goal.” — Paul McLarty
Many Calloway Title team members serve on industry boards and panels, reflecting a philosophy of collaboration over gatekeeping.
Pearl No. 11 — “Offer everyone a graceful exit.” — Brooks Stillwell
Calloway Title’s culture of professional engagement, even under pressure, has preserved countless relationships that might otherwise have ended badly.
Pearl No. 12 — “Your honesty is overwhelming.” — S. Marcus Calloway
Character Under Pressure: The Calloway Way. How the firm handles what others avoid
Commercial real estate is not a gentle industry. The parties who navigate it well are those who stay composed when everything around them is not.
Pearl No. 13 — “Be like a duck—calm above the surface but kicking like mad under the water.” — George Calloway
Pearl No. 14 — “We like to have belt, suspenders and those little things that hold your socks up.” — S. Marcus Calloway
The redundancy built into Calloway Title’s systems and processes exists because the stakes in commercial real estate are too high for single points of failure. Whether it’s a multi-site portfolio acquisition or a complex ground lease transaction, the team applies the same methodical over-preparation to every engagement.
Pearl No. 15 — “Better to be correct than on time.” — S. Marcus Calloway
Pearl No. 16 — “Those run sheets—they are gold!” — S. Marcus Calloway
Great systems matter. But great firms are also built by people willing to learn publicly, take calculated risks and shoulder pressure when it counts.
Pearl No. 17 — “If you are not embarrassing yourself, then you are not expanding your experience.” — Bill Dodson
Pearl No. 18 — “I’m willing to stand up and take the first punch.” — S. Marcus Calloway
Always Working the Future. The philosophy that drives Calloway Title forward
Perhaps the most consistent theme across all thirty pearls is a forward orientation. Calloway Title has never lingered on wins or setbacks. It adapts, moves forward and shows up the next day ready to work.
Pearl No. 19 — “Just work the future—the past won’t move.” — S. Marcus Calloway
Pearl No. 20 — “Every day is about tomorrow.” — S. Marcus Calloway
Pearl No. 21 — “Onward and upward…” — S. Marcus Calloway
Pearl No. 22 — “Don’t worry about the mule, just load the wagon.” — S. Marcus Calloway
Pearl No. 23 — “It is only with true balance—an appreciation for the past, confidence in the present, and adaptability in the days to come—that the title insurance professional can truly rise to greatness.” — Kyle J. Levstek
At thirty years, Calloway Title carries that balance. The firm honors what Marcus built and what the generations of colleagues who contributed to these pearls taught. It carries that forward in the form of a team of more than fifty professionals and a practice that can serve clients in any state through deep underwriter and industry relationships built over three decades.
Pearl No. 24 — “Lead With Heart and Hustle. Build Relationships, Not Just Deals. Treat Everyone Like a Partner. Demand Excellence, Deliver Integrity. Know the Business Like It’s Your Own. Mentor With Generosity. Dance Through Life. Lose the Ego, Keep the Grit. Build a Firm Like a Family. Never Miss a Chance to Redraft… Or to Enjoy Life.” — Sonny Morris
Sonny Morris’s pearl reads less like advice and more like a blueprint for how Calloway Title has operated for thirty years.
The Remaining Pearls: A Few More Worth Carrying
Some pearls defy categorization. They are the kind of thing a mentor says once that you find yourself quoting twenty years later because life kept proving them right.
Pearl No. 25 — “You don’t know what something tastes like til you put it in your mouth and start chewing.” — S. Marcus Calloway
Pearl No. 26 — “No good deed goes unpunished.” — S. Marcus Calloway
Pearl No. 27 — “Life is long… you just got to live through it.” — S. Marcus Calloway
Pearl No. 28 — “Just another day in paradise.” — S. Marcus Calloway
Pearl No. 29 — “Have a great baby.” — S. Marcus Calloway
Pearl No. 30 — “I don’t care if you lie to me, but just don’t expect me to believe it.” — George Calloway
Thirty years of integrity, client trust and culture—through market cycles, recessions, a global pandemic and the loss of its founder—is not something that happens by accident. It happens because the people inside the firm still believe these pearls, and live them.
Ready to Work With a Team That Knows the Business?
Whether you’re closing a single asset or managing a complex multi-site portfolio, Calloway Title and Escrow brings thirty years of hard-won expertise to your transaction. Get in touch at titlelaw.com/contact or explore our full range of services at titlelaw.com/services.
