Clients are often apprehensive about their first meeting with a real estate lawyer. Knowing what to expect, really delving into the complexities of a transaction and understanding the fees that can be involved can ease anxiety and coming prepared for some of the questions you’ll be asked can help make the most of your time.
Clients usually come in with a challenge at hand and our goal is to simplify and resolve them so they can move on to bigger and better things i.e. expanding their portfolio, stability etc…
While every meeting will be different, they often follow a general structure:
1. Fact Gathering Stage
We will ask you what brings you in to see them. Every client’s situation is different and your lawyer is looking to get a handle on the details of yours so they can determine how the law impacts you and how they can help.
Once you’ve had a chance to tell your story, your lawyer will likely ask you some questions.
Questions you can expect at this stage:
When buying/ selling a property, what timelines are there for closing a real transaction transaction or financing?
What are the bank’s requirements? How have negotiations gone till now?
What are your intentions with the property?
Who is this tenant that may be coming to lease real estate from you? What background checks have you done till now?
What have you agreed on till now? Do you understand what a net lease is vis a vis a gross lease?
Is the commercial tenant withholding rent because there is an issue with their premises or because they are going through financial hardship?
Do you want to cancel their lease or simply recover your rent?
2. Information and Education Stage
Once we have gathered enough information, we will then discuss with you how the law relates to your circumstances. Depending on your situation, we may explain how the decisions you make impact your ability to buy/sell a property, lease to a tenant and engage in conflict resolution as determined by Quebec law and jurisprudence.
4. Next Steps
At this point, we will discuss next steps, usually including documents or information you may need to decide together what further steps they will take on your matter. You may also discuss fees, communication and what you can each expect from one another. You will also see that are fees can be easily adaptable to each situation and we usually impose a cap on fees no matter the hours worked on in a individual file.
This is also a good opportunity to ask any outstanding questions you may have and make sure you are clear on everything that has been discussed before the meeting ends.
Meeting with us can go a long way towards easing stress and helping you decide how to move forward, regardless of the nature of your family issue. Please do not hesitate to contact us at 514-882-2920 or send us an email to schedule a consultation.