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August 8, 2007
Unresponsive attorney
My attorney is a one lawyer firm. It is extremely difficult to get hold of him. He won't provide a cell phone and he responds to my messages at the end of the day. He is charging me $2500 to handle my purchase, a brownstone, and his numbers were roughly in line with other quotes I got.
Should I be getting more for what I'm paying? Not sure if this is a case of getting what I paid for or whether I should insist on better responsiveness.
Comments
If you're questions don't require immediate response (in reality, not just in your stressed out world, I know that when you are making a huge purchase, you probably feel like nothing else matters to anyone except your new home), then I would say yes, ditch him. But if not, you might need to learn some pateience. The guy is probably really busy. Waiting a day for a response doesn't seem outrageous. If you were waiting three days or a week, I would get nervous. The price seems reasonable.
Posted by: Archibald at August 8, 2007 1:53 PM
I think a response the same day is actually pretty good. Don't forget what this guy does for a living--real estate law. He attends closings, etc. all day. Presumably you do not want him taking and making calls during your closing, and if he is getting back to you the same day, I think he is probably doing his best.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 8, 2007 2:14 PM
yeah, if he is getting back to you same-day you're doing pretty well. when i was in contract on my place i was constantly pestering my lawyer, when in reality i shoulda just relaxed. most of the time he got back to me was to tell me just that.
Posted by: Jimmy Legs at August 8, 2007 2:20 PM
My attorney is almost always available and if he is not, he has someone who can get in touch with him and/or answer questions, even when he is on vacation.
Howard Webber 212 509 0999
Posted by: anonymous at August 8, 2007 2:29 PM
Ok, sounds like I just need to learn to chill. My questions are typically to confirm if he got a revision of the contract? What does this item mean? What's next? etc.
That's why I posted. To see if I was being unreasonable.
Posted by: Anon at August 8, 2007 2:47 PM
OP, if you do have a problem that you think needs more immediate attention, be clear about that in your voice or email. If your attorney is on the postal route, and no reason to think yours isn't at the moment, s/he will be remotely triaging messages during breaks in the closing etc.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 8, 2007 3:26 PM
STEWART J. KONG, ESQ.
246 Fifth Avenue, Suite #600
New York, New York 10001
(o) 212-779-1111
(f) 212-779-1010
Posted by: Anonymous at August 8, 2007 9:01 PM
A little free advertising Mr Kong?
Posted by: Anonymous at August 9, 2007 7:46 AM
Be persistant, try to call him multiple times (but I would leave 1 message a day). Attorneys here in NYC are all super busy but not to the point of unresponsive. You just have to keep trying.
But if you feel that your lawyer is NOT doing his/her job, then you might want to fire him/her and get another. I had to do that 3 days before closing in one of my purchases. Fun times.
Posted by: BePersistant at August 9, 2007 2:15 PM
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