Finding a lawyer to help you with reviewing and negotiating your lease can come with some issues. Not every attorney you know is equipped with the right experience or attention to detail that is required when reviewing a lease.
Your first initial step is to find several real estate attorneys in NYC. Some lawyers specialize only in lease review and lease drafting. Once you have a listing of which attorneys you would consider hiring, the next step is to think about your intentions in this transaction. Ask yourself the following questions:
Do I want my attorney to only review the lease?
Should the lawyer negotiate the lease?
Should I hire them for a consultation so they may convey what a lease should contain to better protect my interests?
Should they be present at the lease signing?
Do I want to pay them a flat fee or hourly?
Is a free consultation possible?
Should the attorney contact the landlord first prior to having them draft a lease in order to save time?
Once you know exactly what you want out of your lawyer, begin asking these questions to the list of attorneys you found. Whichever legal professional checks all or most of your boxes, proceed with retaining their services.
Let’s take a more in depth look of some questions I typically receive from potential clients.
Top 5 Questions To Ask Your Attorney
First, always get an initial consultation. You get a good idea of the quality of your potential lawyer’s work from simply having a one-on-one conversation with them. Most initial consultations are free but if you have to pay, that isn’t necessarily a red flag. Time is money as they say and a good attorney typically will not have all the time in the world to sit down and have a conversation with someone free of charge. A consultation fee is always negotiable. The main reason an attorney even charges one is to make sure that if the potential client is only there to waste their time, at least they will be compensated. Generally a lawyer may even waive the consultation fee if they can determine that a potential client is the real deal.
During the consultation, here are 5 questions you should be asking:
What’s your experience in general business law, landlord-tenant conflicts, and real estate law?
When you are signing a commercial and residential lease, it is always helpful that your attorney who is reviewing the lease has peripheral knowledge about general business, landlord-tenant law, and real estate law. This will better equip them to truly get a feel for the lease, what possible pitfalls you may come across, and what additional clauses should be included in the document.
As an example, suppose you are signing a commercial lease in a notable building on the lower east side. Since your attorney has many contacts in the real estate industry and they themselves perform real estate closings, they happen to know that the building you are signing a lease with is going on the market soon in order to be sold. A new landlord may or may not renew your lease once it expires. Therefore, if you want to be in that property for the long haul, your attorney will recommend that language be placed in the lease allowing you to renew the term. The new landlord would need to honor your lease. This is a small example of why general realty knowledge on the part of your attorney gives you a huge advantage.
Will you personally represent me throughout the entire lease review and lease signing process?
Lawyers love to delegate their work. If you are comfortable with that, then confirm which other associates will be handling your case. If your attorney will not be delegating your case to anyone else, then no further concern is needed on your part in reference to this question.
If your case will be handled by someone else, find out what their experience is, how long they have been admitted with the New York State BAR, and also try and get a meeting with them as well before signing the retainer.
How will you charge me for your legal services?
Lawyer’s typically charge their client two ways: hourly and flat fee. The attorney sometimes changes up their fee requirements depending on the case. As an example, suppose an attorney always does a flat fee but you come in with a 75-page commercial lease for them to review. I highly doubt they will review your lease for a flat fee considering it is the size of a small novel. In fairness to the lawyer, their time is very valuable as well.
It is a good idea to find out the size of your lease from the landlord. This way your attorney knows what they are getting themselves into. When a lawyer feels they are being compensated fairly, their quality of work will be better. The last thing you want is a disgruntled lawyer reviewing your documentation.
Keep in mind everything is negotiable. If you don’t like the attorney’s fee schedule, talk to them on lowering your overall bill.
How accessible will you be during this entire process?
The legal profession is a highly competitive field. It does happen that a lawyer cannot simply get back to your phone calls, texts, and emails immediately. A reasonable response time from your attorney on your questions or comments should be within 6-8 hours.
Spare your attorney the long, convoluted, irrelevant questions. If you want to speak about something that does not pertain to your case on a daily basis, that’s when you can expect your lawyer to stop picking up on you. If your attorney is charging a fixed fee, this sentiment holds even more true.
Consider your attorney’s time. Most lawyers are reasonable and do want to help you. But don’t take advantage of their generosity.
Do you represent landlords also?
There is nothing better than knowing how to play both sides of the field. If your attorney has represented landlords before, it is as if they have insider information on your opposition. They understand what exactly a landlord wants and with that type of knowledge, it will make their review of your lease all the more effective. If they have never represented a landlord, that is not a deal breaker but having that kind of experience only helps you.
Thank you for reading our latest blog post! Should you have any questions regarding a lease review or lease signing, feel free to contact our law firm at (917) 567-1963 or email us at [email protected].