By: Jayson Schwarz LLM
I participated as a guest speaker at a first time homebuyers seminar presented by Tarion (For those of you that either do not know, Tarion is the name for the Ontario New homes Warranty Program) that had me focus on “how do you find a lawyer?”.
Not all lawyers are created equal. If you needed a heart surgeon you certainly would not go to see an optometrist. By the same token lawyers generally have expertise in one area greater than another. DO NOT BELIEVE that the granting of a law degree instantly bestows knowledge of ALL laws on the head of a lawyer.
The first thing you need to do to find a lawyer is the same thing you ought to be doing to find a new home ; RESEARCH!!!! Where do you look? Start with media and look in magazines (“New Homes Guide” or “Condo Guide”), newspapers, listen to radio, watch real estate television. Generally speaking the lawyers that appear in public, speaking or writing about real estate are thought to be experts in the area. Go to seminars and listen to the speakers. Generally, if a lawyer is taking the time to participate in a seminar, he knows what he is talking about and is happy to take on new clients that come out of those seminars.
Next, go on line and check out the web sites of different real estate lawyers. Look to see whether they give good, informative, information; whether they give you pricing and whether they make you feel comfortable.
Call the Law Society of Upper Canada, Lawyer Referral Service, which can be found in the telephone book. This service keeps lists of lawyers and refers requesting members of the public to lawyers who practice in the area requested. This just gets you someone in the area. You need to really check them out when referred.
Speak to friends, who have used a lawyer for the type of service you require and ensure they did the job professionally, courteously and for the price quoted.
Referrals, hmmm . . . who is making the referral? Is the referral coming from a real estate agent, a builder, a mortgage broker or a bank? This is not necessarily bad, but you have to be careful. Quite often lawyers develop relationships with various groups over the years and receive referrals because they do a great job. On the other hand ensure that your lawyer is independent and will represent your interests even if it puts him or her into an adversarial position with one of those parties. This is quite important and make sure you get comfortable with this issue before you hire someone.
Now to bring this back to the original idea. What you all need to understand is that there are general practitioners just like there are family doctors. What this means is that a lawyer may have a wide ranging practice composed of many areas. The smart lawyers that fit this category, know that if there a serious issue arises outside their expertise that they should bring in a specialist, just like your family doctor would. The bad lawyers try to do it all. The ordinary general practitioner can probably handle your real estate deal just fine, BUT, make sure he or she understands the complicated offers that come from a new home or condo builder and that he/she reviews them carefully pointing out the problems and adjustments that need to be capped. Ensure that he/she knows what can be negotiated and what cannot (often because it is outside the builders control) or you may lose your deal.