@Joe Cummings
Joe,
I understand what your saying. Im going to give you the down and dirty version.
In reality it doesn't matter who you go with, the important thing is you have someone watching out for your best interest. The buyers agent is protecting you in the same way the lawyer is, making sure the contract is valid and if any problems occur, they are at fault. (I'm not saying real estate agent or brokers are the same as Lawyers) The E&O almost never comes into play, but its a good safety net to have just incase. I have never had a problem with an all cash deal and they very rarely go wrong. All contracts come down to terms, if its an experienced agent or Real Estate Attorney, they should be able to look at that and make sure nothing extra is written into the contract. One benefit of using an agent is that it is built into the cost of buying the property, as it would already be written into the contract by the listing agent. If using an attorney, that would be paid out of pocket.
It really comes down to who you would rather work with. I would rather work with an agent that I trust than an attorney, like Jeff would. Because in my state I am better protected that way.
I hope I answered your question thoroughly.