When it comes to commercial real estate, there are plenty of laws that surround your property management and financing. Whether you’re acquiring new property, selling, refinancing, or developing, you need a real estate law firm in Toronto that can help you verify that you’re following all the right steps. Before you hire a commercial real estate lawyer, you want to make sure you’re getting the right person for you. To help you get started, our team at Atlas Law Group has put together some questions to aid you in vetting a lawyer.
What kind of experience do you have?
Experience is a big difference-maker when it comes to legal matters. Newly minted lawyers will often need to get their experience from somewhere, but it’s not uncommon for clients to want that experience to come from elsewhere. Ask about the lawyer’s experience, cases they’ve won, and how your case is similar to others they’ve seen.
How much do you charge?
Not all lawyers will charge the same for their services. Keep in mind that you might vibe well with a specific lawyer and like the services that they’re going to offer, but they could be out of your price range. Breach this topic early so you don’t waste your time or theirs. If you know that they’re out of your price range sooner than later, you can continue your search with a different lawyer.
Do you specialize in commercial real estate?
Specialties in law practice are important. For instance, you wouldn’t want to hire someone who specializes in copyright law as a defense lawyer. Ask if they specialize in commercial real estate law and how it’s been their specialty. It’s not uncommon for lawyers to change their specialty years into their practice so they might have 15 years of experience in a specific discipline, but only four years as a specialist. Differentiate between the two so you can get an idea of how much knowledge they have in the area.
Are you the one who will work on my case?
It’s not unusual for a partner in a law firm to hand a case off to an entry-level lawyer who isn’t as experienced as they are. It does make sense because they’re often the busiest in the firm and might not have the necessary bandwidth to take on another case. However, this could mean that you’re not necessarily working with someone who has decades of experience in commercial real estate law. Rather, the person with the experience is simply an advisor on your case instead of taking charge.
What is your current workload like?
As we previously mentioned, you might be speaking with a lawyer whose workload is incredibly heavy. This means that they could either pass your case to another lawyer in the firm or they’re not going to spend the necessary amount of time you need to address your needs. In contrast, if they don’t have anything going on, this could be a red flag that means they’re not very good at what they do. There’s nothing wrong with finding out more about a lawyer’s caseload so you can find out what kind of time they have available for your case.
Contact us for answers
You can get answers to these questions and more by scheduling an appointment with our team at Atlas Law Group. We’ll proudly serve as your commercial real estate law firm in Toronto to help make sure that you’re crossing your T’s and dotting your I’s as needed. Give us a call today at 905-502-8786 or send a message using our online contact form. We look forward to hearing from you.
