how/when do we find a lawyer?

we found something we want to bid on today.

We don't have or know an attorney. How do we find one and how fast do we have to find one?

Have you been working with a realtor? When we first met with ours she gave us a list of lawyers they had worked with. It helped us a lot because we moved to a place where we didn't know anyone. Maybe give your realtor a call?

ETA: When our bid was accepted, my first call was to a home inspector. My second was to a lawyer. We may have had a couple days after the bid was accepted but I didn't want to wait. The home inspection, OTOH, needed to be done within 72 hours of bid acceptance.

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Posted by TracyInQueens

Have you been working with a realtor? When we first met with ours she gave us a list of lawyers they had worked with.

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Never take a lawyer referral from the RE agent.

Get recommendations from friends, co-workers, or even people here on this site, before you take one from your RE agent.

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Posted by DjPiLL

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Posted by TracyInQueens

Have you been working with a realtor? When we first met with ours she gave us a list of lawyers they had worked with.

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Never take a lawyer referral from the RE agent.

Get recommendations from friends, co-workers, or even people here on this site, before you take one from your RE agent.

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This is absolutely positively incorrect. Attorneys are not allowed to get referral fees from REs, and they must zealously represent all clients, regardless of where they were referred from. There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking an attorney referral from a RE. Not to mention, all attorneys ARE REs.

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Posted by FTRBRIDE

This is absolutely positively incorrect. Attorneys are not allowed to get referral fees from REs, and they must zealously represent all clients, regardless of where they were referred from. There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking an attorney referral from a RE. Not to mention, all attorneys ARE REs.

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I am not saying there is a referral fee.

But don't you think that taking a referral from your RE agent would cause a slight conflict of interest?

RE agent to RE Lawyer: 'Hey... I will guarantee you plenty of clients... make sure they have nice quick and easy closings '.

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Posted by DjPiLL

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Posted by FTRBRIDE

This is absolutely positively incorrect. Attorneys are not allowed to get referral fees from REs, and they must zealously represent all clients, regardless of where they were referred from. There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking an attorney referral from a RE. Not to mention, all attorneys ARE REs.

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I am not saying there is a referral fee.

But don't you think that taking a referral from your RE agent would cause a slight conflict of interest?

RE agent to RE Lawyer: 'Hey... I will guarantee you plenty of clients... make sure they have nice quick and easy closings '.

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Like I said, there CANNOT be a referall fee...attorneys cannot accept referral fees from anyone other than other attorneys for the very obvious reason that you stated- conflict of interest. If the attorney were to have any sort of conflict of interest (s)he is obligated to recuse herself as counsel.

I get what you're saying with your comment, but it's not true. Attorneys are sworn in- they take an oath to zealously represent all of their clients. Additionally, despite all of the lawyer jokes, attorneys are held to a very high ethical standard...one which if breached, leads to the destruction of careers. Therefore, the RE attorney must be extremely careful in all closings, whether they go smoothly or not, to dot every i and cross every t. If they do not, they risk getting disbarred...losing the career for which they spent 7 years in school. I can tell you first hand, no RE agent in the world has enough clients to make it worth losing your career. Not to mention, attorneys on retainer will get paid regardless of whether the closing goes through or not....it is much more difficult for the RE agent to get paid if title does not get transferred. There is no rush for the attorney- he'd rather take his time and make sure it is all done correctly.

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Posted by FTRBRIDE
I get what you're saying with your comment, but it's not true. Attorneys are sworn in- they take an oath to zealously represent all of their clients. Additionally, despite all of the lawyer jokes, attorneys are held to a very high ethical standard...one which if breached, leads to the destruction of careers. Therefore, the RE attorney must be extremely careful in all closings, whether they go smoothly or not, to dot every i and cross every t. If they do not, they risk getting disbarred...losing the career for which they spent 7 years in school. I can tell you first hand, no RE agent in the world has enough clients to make it worth losing your career. Not to mention, attorneys on retainer will get paid regardless of whether the closing goes through or not....it is much more difficult for the RE agent to get paid if title does not get transferred. There is no rush for the attorney- he'd rather take his time and make sure it is all done correctly.

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I will accept what you say for what its worth. You are a future lawyer and yeah they are sworn to this and that. I can repect that and you defending your position as a lawyer.

But with that said... I still don't buy it in the end. As much as lawyers are sworn to everything... there are lawyers on the other hand that are corrupt and get kicked out from the bar association.

There is really no way for a buyer to know.... so why put yourself in that position in the first place when there are THOUSANDS of lawyers out there to choose from.

Hell... I had a lawyer at my last closing write me a check that BOUNCED (not my lawyer). He was lucky I was nice and didn't report him. I knew it was just a mistake on his part in the end so it was no big deal.


But frankly... the only referral I would take from a RE agent would be a mortgage broker and/or a bank contact for a mortgage.

In that case... I want the quickest and easiest closing I can get (assuming the rates are good).

But getting either a lawyer referral... or a home inspector referral from a RE agent IMO can lead to a conflict of interest.


There are tons of people that do get referrals from RE agents. Good for them. Lets just say I won't do it and we can agree to disagree.

Don't get me wrong, I can't think of anything dumber a person could do than accept an inspector referral from a RE agent. That's not what I was saying at all.

As for the attorney that bounced the check at your closing, the most frequent reason lawyers become disbarred is b/c they screwed up escrow accounts. You were nice to not report him (he would have been disbarred- regardless of whether he did it on purpose or not), but it's not something that should be taken lightly...and to be honest he probably should have been reported.

I'm also not saying that all lawyers are perfect- as with any other profession there are people that are in it for the wrong reasons and make poor choices. In a perfect system all people who were corrupt would get caught, but I think we all know that isn't the case. However, you have just as much of a chance of getting a referral from your friend/acquaintance who is corrupt as you do from a RE agent.

That being said, yes- I can agree to disagree with you. If you would never take a referral for an attorney from your RE agent that is your choice...but I don't think it is sound advice to make a blanket statement that it shouldn't be done.

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Posted by FTRBRIDE

As for the attorney that bounced the check at your closing, the most frequent reason lawyers become disbarred is b/c they screwed up escrow accounts.

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I didn't even know this was that big of a deal until I first reported this to my lawyer. She told me he could get into serious trouble and told me she would quickly 'handle it' with him.

I guess that was her way of kinda protecting him as 'lawyers will probably stick up for other lawyers'. She probably didn't want me to handle it myself which would lead to reporting him.


But man was he a total screwup in so many ways. I should have reported him... but at that point I was just glad I was closed after a five month delay.

No need to ruin someone else's life and family. I got my check fedex'ed next day with my bank fees added.

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Posted by DjPiLL

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Posted by FTRBRIDE

This is absolutely positively incorrect. Attorneys are not allowed to get referral fees from REs, and they must zealously represent all clients, regardless of where they were referred from. There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking an attorney referral from a RE. Not to mention, all attorneys ARE REs.

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I am not saying there is a referral fee.

But don't you think that taking a referral from your RE agent would cause a slight conflict of interest?

RE agent to RE Lawyer: 'Hey... I will guarantee you plenty of clients... make sure they have nice quick and easy closings '.

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Is a quick and easy closing a bad thing?

Our lawyer was excellent and I would use him again. As I said in my initial response, we were moving to a place where we didn't really know anyone. I didn't expect anyone on LIW to know anyone up here either. We preferred choosing someone recommended by our realtor to randomly choosing a name from the phonebook, which is what we would have had to do. And it is in the realtor's best interest to recommend someone competent. If she'd steered us to a crap lawyer, I would not recommend her to anyone who was thinking about moving up here.

I've been a lawyer since 1993 and I would not recommend anyone to use the lawyer that a RE broker recommends--for various reasons.

Do your own research and find someone that has no other connection to the deal.

I'm not a RE lawyer, so I'm not saying this to get business.

I believe very strongly in the attorney ethical standards but you still have to protect yourself.

I recommend your local county bar association as a place to call for a recommendation.

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Posted by ssdbk

I've been a lawyer since 1993 and I would not recommend anyone to use the lawyer that a RE broker recommends--for various reasons.

I'm not a RE lawyer, so I'm not saying this to get business.

I believe very strongly in the attorney ethical standards but you still have to protect yourself.

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Very very interesting. I wonder what lawyer-to-be FTRBRIDE has to say about this.

Glad I am not the only one that thinks this way.

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Posted by DjPiLL

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Posted by ssdbk

I've been a lawyer since 1993 and I would not recommend anyone to use the lawyer that a RE broker recommends--for various reasons.

I'm not a RE lawyer, so I'm not saying this to get business.

I believe very strongly in the attorney ethical standards but you still have to protect yourself.

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Very very interesting. I wonder what lawyer-to-be FTRBRIDE has to say about this.

Glad I am not the only one that thinks this way.

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lawyer-to-be FTRBRIDE's comment: My advice is based upon a very strong foundation. We discussed this at length in my real estate transactions course, and my professor happens to be a partner in the very best RE firm on this Island. Not to mention I spent 6 summers interning in a RE firm. Like ssdbk said, she is not in the RE field. I know (on a personal level) many people who have been RE attorneys for a VERY long time and they would advise that it is not a bad idea...so I take their advice.

Thanks to all, very interesting debate. We went with a long time and trusted colleague of my father's.

Now we are one step closer.

Being a lawyer for this many years, I know lawyers in every specialty and some of my best friends are RE lawyers. Also, I get to know my clients very well and I always get the story of any dealing they have with any other attorney, so I've seen what goes on.

No lawyer wants to admit it, but there are many of us out there to choose from. Why pick someone knowing that there is an increased chance that their best interest and yours are not the same.

I'm not saying that by taking a recommendation from a broker, you are doomed. I have a friend who gets a lot of RE closings from a broker. He is a great lawyer and would never screw anyone. I just think that his clients have taken a chance in coming to him and I am not sure I would take the same chance.

WHen we were in contract on a house, the seller's broker asked us if we needed a lawyer. We said NO--we had one already and we were not interested (I didn't represent myself in this, had another lawyer). Well, guess what, their 'recommended' lawyer called me the next day. That's an ethical violation as it is a form of soliciting that is not allowed.

The bar does enforce the ethical rules very well but I just don't see where it is enough to blindly trust someone because they are a lawyer and I don't think that people should take chances with something as serious as their house!!!!!

A woman from Patchogue is in jail now because she held herself out as a lawyer and scammed people out of a lot of money. She was a licensed real estate broker. There were many people in town who never knew that she was a fake!!!! They just thought she was a really bad lawyer!! I saw many people hurt by her and I helped some of her former clients to clean up the messes she made. Since then I believe that you have to do your homework on anyone you hire to work on your behalf!!!

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Posted by ssdbk

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Well I guess all those crooked lawyer jokes are justified after all.

Nice read... you have the same exact views I have on this matter.