Using an attorney when entering a financial lease and/or finance recovery situation is imperative. These are legal documents that can be easily fought, misconstrued, and debated in a court of law if they are not correctly worded and written. Any legal matter should be appropriately handled by an attorney, but you should know you do need more than just an attorney to handle matters like this. You need an attorney who specializes in this sector of the law to ensure you’re getting the best possible representation. You need to protect yourself, and hiring an attorney is the first and most important step in that process.
Ask for Referrals
The best way to go about finding an attorney to handle your commercial lease needs is to ask around for referrals. These are not the kind of attorneys you might hear of regularly, but they are prominent in this line of work. Ask business owners, other people who work with leases and commercial buildings, and even ask your regular attorney if he or she can recommend a good attorney to work on your commercial lease agreement. You want someone who is familiar with this legal world. The legal terms used in a commercial lease agreement are often confusing, and they can mean more than one thing if you’re not sure how to word the document correctly.
It is imperative you use an attorney to draft or read over the forms you’re given in a commercial lease agreement. If you don’t word something correctly, you could end up a victim of someone if the lease goes south. If you sign something and don’t realize what you’re signing, the owner of the building you’re leasing could take advantage of you.
Check Experience
Now that you’re asking for referrals, you want to check the attorney’s experience in this line of work. You need to have someone who has worked with commercial lease agreements in the past. A lease agreement is not always the same as another lease agreement, which means that working in the commercial sector is so important to you and your lease. Ask about experience. Ask about time in this specific field. Ask the attorney to show you his or her education and how many cases they’ve handled. Ask about their success rate. Experience is crucial in this line of work.
Meet With the Attorney
Now that you have a few good attorneys on the line, it’s time to meet with one or more. Find the ones you like the most, schedule a consultation, and see who you work best with. You should like your attorney in a professional manner. You should feel confident in his or her ability to represent you and your lease agreement, and you should have a good feeling leaving their offices.
Believe it or not, sometimes you walk into the offices of an amazing attorney with a great reputation and have a gut instinct you don’t want to work with that person. Do not discount that. Simply because someone is highly recommended or has a great reputation within the community doesn’t mean you must work with that person simply because of a recommendation or the words of others. You go with your gut. If you don’t have a good feeling about someone, listen to what your stomach is telling you.
Hiring an attorney is always a stressful situation for people. If you need an attorney, you need to protect yourself legally. That’s a scary thought for many people, and this becomes an intimidating process. You want to hire someone who will represent you in court in a manner that works well for you. You want someone who has experience working with commercial lease agreements, with fighting them if you feel you’re not being given a fair shot, and you need someone who demands results when your lease is in question.
Your finances, your business, your self-reliance, and many other things are on the table when you enter a commercial lease agreement. If it’s not a good lease or it’s not correct, you put yourself in danger. Hire an attorney who is familiar with commercial leases. This is the best way to protect yourself and your financial situation.
