The Best Commercial Real Estate Lawyers Have These 3 Key Skills
What’s the most important decision you can make concerning your commercial real estate needs? Why, finding a competent and experienced commercial real estate agent (like the incredible team at MCRE), of course! But what’s the second most important decision? Selecting another member of your team—your commercial real estate lawyer.
Choosing an experienced, competent lawyer can ensure a smooth transaction and that your interests are represented; however, choosing the wrong lawyer can not only drag out the process needlessly but also cost you a lot of money.
So, how do you know if you’ve got a competent partner or someone out to pad their pockets with billable hours? The short answer is, you don’t; however, there are telltale signs to look for that can help you separate the winners from the ‘bad apples.’
In this blog post, we’re going to discuss the top three skills we at MCRE demand from the commercial real estate lawyers we do business with; however, keep in mind this is a highly subjective process and therefore treat these suggestions as guidelines. Often, a lawyer’s true competency won’t be fully apparent until after a deal is done, so if you have little experience with commercial real estate lawyers it’s best to start off with some recommendations from someone who does.
Experience Counts
When it comes to competency in commercial real estate, experience really does count. This is not the time to hire your friend Denise’s son Josh who just graduated summa cum laude from Harvard Law School—sure, he’s a brilliant kid, but being brilliant is only half of the equation when it comes to commercial real estate.
An experienced commercial real estate lawyer knows exactly where to concentrate negotiating efforts to ensure their client is not only well-covered from a legal perspective but also that those negotiations aren’t drawn out needlessly, wasting time and money.
An inexperienced commercial real estate lawyer is likely to unwittingly (or wittingly, in some disgraceful cases) either draw negotiations out unnecessarily or underrepresent their client’s interests. Either way, you’re (metaphorically) screwed.
Treats a Snack Like a Snack
This one is ever so important, but hard to determine if you haven’t worked with that particular lawyer before.
Lawyers who like to make a meal out of snack can seem impressive to clients at first. Their tenacity and aggressive defence of certain issues can give clients the impression they’re dealing with a real pro who will fight for them—the truth is, this type of commercial real estate lawyer is more likely to hold up negotiations and cost their client lots and lots of money through needless billable hours.
A competent commercial real estate lawyer knows the difference between a meal and a snack, and will focus their efforts where they can make the most impact. Not only will a competent commercial real estate lawyer help ensure your best interests are represented but will also do it without needlessly dragging out negotiations and running up unnecessary costs.
Sure, that pitbull lawyer who swore to never give up until the landlord agrees to double the number of parking spaces your company can use may seem like a real boardroom killer, but in the end, he or she will simply end up costing you time and money.
Deal Maker, Not Breaker
This one is hard to ascertain without having worked with the lawyer before, but this is where recommendations will help.
A deal maker is committed to both representing their client’s best interests in negotiations as well as financially by not needlessly drawing out deals. They are deal makers because they are willing to work with the other side to come to an understanding that works for everyone as quickly as possible.
A deal breaker is quite the opposite. At first, this type of lawyer may excite clients with their passion and willingness to dig in their heels and fight, but at the end of the day, a lawyer who is constantly fighting with the opposition and making “mountains out of molehills,” will undoubtedly end up with a worse deal for their client—and a bigger bill!
Choosing a Commercial Real Estate Lawyer
The best way to distinguish an excellent commercial real estate lawyer from a mediocre—or worse, incompetent—one is to simply work with a lot of lawyers! While this may sound like a nightmare to some, at MCRE we’ve worked with hundreds of commercial real estate lawyers over the years and have become quite adept at spotting the good ones.
If you’re new to commercial real estate or haven’t had much experience working with commercial real estate lawyers, give us a call or send an email and we’d be happy to make some recommendations for you.