Typical cost for a CRE lease review by an attorney
Hey all, I had a question about attorney's fees for CRE lease reviews.  For leases that are on the shorter side (&lt;10 pages), how many hours one would expect an attorney to require to review?  

The odd thing is that while shopping around, I've run into two groups of attorneys.  The first group has quoted me fees based upon 1-2 hours of review.  The second group's fees are more along the lines of 5-6 hours of review.  

I'm not sure what the difference is in service, where the difference in cost is nearly $1,000.
[{"id": "d2yel0n", "text": "10 pages or less should take 20 minutes. We live in a world where Google exists ", "replies": [{"id": "d2yg2a9", "text": "Does Google read the lease to you? How is this relevant for document review?", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "d2yt0v7", "text": "Google does not accurately parse state law and tell you what your obligations will be as well as a lawyer.", "replies": [{"id": "d2ytasd", "text": "I understand that.\nHowever one can learn what these words and phrases mean. Before the Internet, one could self educate with law libraries. It's just informations to be sought out, and it can be sought out. ", "replies": [{"id": "d2yu8pu", "text": "Let me put it this way: if you are comfortable with self-educating and having no confirmation from another source, good luck. Giving people advice to do the same is a pretty bad idea. ", "replies": [{"id": "d2yvrm0", "text": "You are 100% correct", "replies": [], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}, {"id": "d34whmo", "text": "It works until it doesn't...", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "d2yyzcp", "text": "I definitely use google to read up on things I don't understand.\n\nWhere I'd be at a loss if there's something missing, that's where I'd be looking for something I didn't know existed, hah.", "replies": [{"id": "d2zz7au", "text": "You are doing this the right way. Read up and educate yourself to understand the issues, but also consult an expert to look it over particularly if you don't do this type of lease frequently.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}, {"id": "d34wieq", "text": "Google is good for that... if anything material is at stake then an attorney is the answer... you don't know what you don't know.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "d2zz5h5", "text": "This is a horrible answer. There are often specific language requirements that can make terms in a lease void even if both parties clearly agreed to them. The only way to know that is to practice law in the field daily and know what recent cases held, what legislative changes have been made to the real estate law statutes and know the reality of the law (what local judges will actually rule if it has to go to court).\n\nWould you google how to do surgery on yourself or trust the guy who did a surgery residency after med school?", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "d3d5pa1", "text": "This is unbelievably terrible advise. For example, did you know that in FL you need two witnesses to sign in order to make a lease valid and exercise-able in court? I doubt your google search would figure this out. It's not just about looking up legal terms in google. ", "replies": [{"id": "d3d5xlp", "text": "Sure, but there is also an easy way to find the information yourself. Anyone can easily find text books approved by the state of Florida regarding this and other laws and processes. \nMy point is that the information is out there. ", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "d2yg3ua", "text": "&gt; For leases that are on the shorter side (&lt;10 pages), how many hours one would expect an attorney to require to review?\n\nIt depends. Are they JUST reviewing the lease? Comparing it to the term sheet? Are they preparing a lease memo? Are they negotiating? Correspondence? \n\n-\n\nSide note: You left out the state and what is custom and practice in that state. ", "replies": [{"id": "d2yyxqe", "text": "They are primarily just reviewing the lease.  Truthfully I'll have to ask about the lease memo, this is the first I've heard of it.  They're not negotiating nor corresponding with the landlord.  My CREA is handling the rest of that.  \n\nBtw this is CA.  ", "replies": [{"id": "d2yzedt", "text": "Honestly, commercial leases are tricky. It really isn't a page number thing. Where I am from...they take some time to review (depending on the form and LL), prepare a lease memo, correspond, negotiate and finalize. ", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "d2ym28x", "text": "There is a lot that goes into a review of a lease and page count doesn't really tell the whole story. In many instances, the smaller the page count, the harder the review because there is necessary language missing or so abbreviated as to be incomprehensible.\n\nBut, the time will be based on what you want done. Are you looking for a legal review to protect your legal interests or are you looking for a review to determine if the RFP/LOI/term sheet matches the terms in the lease. If the second one, that is pretty simple - but many attorneys will not like it (because they will be afraid that some lease language will cause harm and they will get sued for failing to fix it). ", "replies": [{"id": "d2yytvd", "text": "It's more of the first option- to protect my legal interests.  My commercial real estate agent drafted the lease, so the LOI terms match the lease.  Right now the lease is actually fairly simple, I understood 99.9% of most everything with my first reading, hah.  I'm just concerned it might be missing something that I'm not aware of.", "replies": [{"id": "d2zyzde", "text": "In most states your agent should not be drafting your lease, although they could fill in the blanks if it's completely boiler plate. In Illinois for example, even if your agent is also a licensed attorney, they should not be drafting your lease because it's a conflict of interest.", "replies": [{"id": "d306uvq", "text": "It's pretty boiler plate, I believe.  A CAR form with an addendum for things not listed in the template.", "replies": [{"id": "d308y17", "text": "If it's a pretty boilerplate lease, then I would base your level of legal review on the total lease value. If you are signing a lease for a total term rent of $7k, it probably doesn't make sense to spend $1k on the legal review. On the other hand, if you are singing a $1M lease, then spending $1k or even $5k on the lease review is relatively cheap insurance, especially where more complex issues like expansion options or extensive buildout are at issue.\n\n*not your attorney, consult an attorney, etc.", "replies": [], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "d2yy1vs", "text": "I assure you no lawyer is going to stare at your lease for 6 hours. I would ask for 1 hour of review and a 15 minute phone call to get their thoughts. you don't need a 30 page attorney opinion memo drafted.\n\nhonestly, I'd be more concerned about the negotiation side - not the legal side but what did you bargain for and are your terms favorable? or did you get shafted by the landlord? a tenant rep broker would be better in this case.", "replies": [{"id": "d2yyp51", "text": "The negotiation side has been handled by both my commercial real estate agent and myself.  \n\n", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "d30endg", "text": "From the comment string, I take it you're the tenant? Most of the issues you're going to run into will be business stuff and the broker should be looking out for your best interest on those terms.  \n\nAssuming you did the homework on your broker and it's not just some guy you know, I would opt for the less expensive review. The landlord won't budge much on their BP language unless you have a lot of clout, and it wouldn't happen at this stage anyway. ", "replies": [{"id": "d30n2gi", "text": "Yep, I'm the tenant.  \n\nThe broker's been very communicative and educational thus far.  I think this commercial space is definitely one of the \"smaller fish\" he's had to deal with in his career.\n\nThanks for your help so far, everybody.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "d3d5r97", "text": "I'd say a reasonable amount of time would be 2-3 hours with a short phone call and email to follow.\n\nSource: i'm a real estate attorney.", "replies": [{"id": "d3d5whh", "text": "Thanks!\n\nMy attorney has looked everything over and we're just waiting back on the landlord now.\n", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "d3qrs0z", "text": "Texas real estate attorney here. For a full lease review, revisions, redlining, negotiations and all that jazz, I would charge a flat fee of $1800. \n\nI  also offer a more strategic option where I would work on only the following for $850: Triple Net Expenses (aka pass through operating expenses), Renewals, Subletting/Assignment, Indemnities, and then in general, to make sure there aren't any time bombs lurking, such as the tenant having to remove cabling upon move out. By limiting the scope of work, it saves me a lot of time and you money. ", "replies": [{"id": "d3r3wxp", "text": "Thanks for your input.  Just curious, is it more common for the attorney to negotiate the lease or for the commercial real estate agent?", "replies": [{"id": "d3s1gsv", "text": "At least in Texas, a commercial real estate agent will negotiate certain items through a letter of intent, such as the rental rate, size, term length, TI dollars, renewal options and sometimes other things, like parking spaces or signage. Then the attorney will take over and handle everything else, from as the nitty-gritty of those items to all the legalese found in the lease. ", "replies": [{"id": "d3s218k", "text": "Ahh I see.  \n\nThanks again for your input.", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]