12 Rules to get the best from your Solicitors

Welcome to another edition of The Business Owners' Property News, my newsletter dedicated to helping business owners get started in property investing.

I'm delighted that today's article is by my friend and guest author Gerard Davis. Gerard is a property investor / developer and also a qualified Solicitor and Business Development Manager at Law Firm Talbots.

He started work in a law firm in Coventry in 2002 and spent his first ten years in law dealing with over 3,500 residential conveyancing transactions for thousands of clients.

In those ten years, he dealt with nearly every weird and wonderful conveyancing quirk.

This article is based on his presentation at a Partners in Property meeting I hosted in Birmingham - and it's too good not to share!

So how do you get the best from your Solicitors?

Read on.....

Working with Solicitors

As a property investor - whether it's buying property, selling property, financing property, leasing property, working with investors and countless other property related matters, we need to work with Solicitors.

Solicitors can make or break deals. It is far better to work with “good” solicitors than choose the cheapest “lawyer” that you can find.?

Where to start?

Start by understanding the difference between a solicitor and a “lawyer” or “conveyancer” or “paralegal”

A SOLICITOR is a protected title, only solicitors can carry out certain legal work and sign certain documents and have rights of audience to appear in the civil and criminal courts.

A LAWYER by contrast is a generic term that does not have any legal definition in the UK and people can call themselves lawyers without having any legal qualification.

A CONVEYANCER or PARALEGAL may be a very experienced time served individual or may have been in the job just a few months.

An ASSOCIATE or SENIOR ASSOCIATE is usually a senior solicitor or lawyer but not an owner of the business / law firm.

A PARTNER / MEMBER or STATUTORY DIRECTOR is usually the owner of the business / law firm.

Owners can make decisions that employees can’t. They can take a view on certain matters and push things through that an employee can’t.

Aim to use at least an associate and ideally a partner / director.

Solicitors are continuously worried about being sued – so are ultra cautious about everything!

How do we overcome their natural cautiousness and get the best out of them? 12 Rules to get the best from your solicitors (property focussed).

The Rules

Rule 1

Do NOT choose a solicitor solely based on them being the lowest price, especially for conveyancing services!

Rule 2

If you have a property deal with any level of complexity or nuance, write a detailed but brief, summary and send that over at the start of a transaction.

Rule 3

Do not expect your solicitor to remember the details every time you call but refer them back to the summary.

Rule 4

Return ALL documents promptly and in the order that they are requested and respond to requests for information in a timely manner.

Rule 5

Solicitors are normal people. Try to build rapport with them. It will make things easier for them and you.

Rule 6

Build rapport by listening to their advice, then take the time to consider their advice.

Rule 7

Don’t assume that your solicitor is trying to rip you off or doesn’t understand things, take some time to google / understand the issue that they are concerned about / advising you to address.

Rule 8

Intrinsically linked to Rule 7, listen to what your solicitor says then mention those magic words “indemnity insurance”!!!!

Rule 9

Pre-empt things that you know will happen, conveyancers seem to leave Personal Guarantees (PGs), Independent Legals Advice (ILAs) etc to the week of exchange.

Have a checklist of things that will need to be done and push those elements.

Rule 10

Be polite, listen, but question things if they need to be questioned. Can we take indemnity insurance? Can I deal with the ILA by waiver? Can we give an undertaking? Can we make the contracts assignable? Can we get early access on a key undertaking?

Rule 11

If you find a good conveyancing solicitor, stick with him or her! They are like gold dust!

Rule 12

Consider the bigger picture when discussing and considering fees, indemnity insurance, indemnity insurance premiums etc.

You are buying an asset that's hopefully going to generate a profit and increase your wealth over the long term. Don't sacrifice that for short term savings!

So there we have it - 12 Rules to working more effectively with Solicitors. As part of our training programmes at Brahma Property, we will always point you in the right direction to our recommended professionals and if you'd like to speak to Gerard Davis or find out more about our training packages, call me on 0121 647 7090 or email [email protected]