Picking an attorney to help with your transaction

When selling your company, a good attorney can help make your transaction go smoothly while protecting you from unnecessary legal risks. When looking for an attorney, start with one that you are comfortable with and have used before.  The first question to ask your existing attorney is if they experienced with transactions of this nature and size, if not, ask them for recommendations.  Your M&A advisor or broker can recommend several to talk with as well.  When interviewing potential attorneys, here are some items you’ll want to find out: 

• What is their availability to work on your transaction over the next week/month?
• Are corporate transactions their focus? Be careful selecting an attorney, even if it’s a family friend giving you a reduced rate, that specializes in something else, say estate planning or divorce.
• What size of transaction do they normally work on? If they normally work on transactions much larger than yours, they may bring more legal resources, language, and expenses to bear than you may have in mind. If smaller, they may not be suited for the potential complexities and challenges of your transaction.
• How many business purchase transactions have they been involved with in the last year?
• How comfortable are they with commercial real estate transactions? (if applicable)
• What is their fee structure and ball park estimate for a transaction such as yours?
• Do they use Word? AND How familiar are they with the track changes function in Word?  If they say, “Huh?”, politely end the conversation.
• Can they create a PDF file directly from Word without printing and scanning it?

The last few may seem silly, but can save you thousands in legal bills and a lot of headaches.

In summary, you are looking for an attorney you can trust, who has availability to work on your transaction, and whose practice focuses on transactions of your company’s size.

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