- Observe whether your calls are returned within 24 hours after you made your contact. If they are not, especially after you have retained the commercial lease attorney, think about a change.
- Your attorney should be obsessed with details. Good enough shouldn’t be good enough until you say so. You are the customer. Try to determine whether they love their job.
- Observe whether she listens more than she talks.
- He should be detail-focused and fact hungry.
- She should be at once approachable and non-judgmental.
- You should never get the feeling that your attorney is running the clock. Demand accountability for this time. You are paying for it.
- Commercial lease attorneys with trial experience tend to write the best contracts, provisions and riders. They are in the courts all the time and know-how the local judges react to various situations. Retain one who knows commercial space leasing and who has trial experience in that legal discipline. This will give you the best likelihood of having a fair lease at inception.
- There should never be any question that the attorney respects your money and time.
- At no time, should your attorney ever provide an evasive answer to a question. If he does not know, you should demand that they disclose that and get the answer. Do not pay for basic research that he should have known. Experts are very efficient and can be cheaper than generalists.
- Good attorneys are not necessarily good business persons. Ensure that they focus on your legal leasing issues. Most cannot eliminate risk for you without ultimately limiting your chances of success. Business requires risk.