If you’re recently looking for a body corporate lawyer for the first time its not uncommon to not have a clear understanding of what to look for. If this sounds familiar, it’s worth noting that you can properly prepare by simply asking body corporate lawyers a few questions to quickly get a feel for whether they can help manage the specific needs of the committee members. In this article, we take a look at what these questions are to give you a better idea of how to prepare for a body corporate lawyer.
Asking the basics
When you’re looking for body corporate lawyers in Melbourne, sometimes the best place to start your line of questioning is in relation their experience. Asking basic questions related to how long they’ve been in the industry, any relevant industry accreditations and who their current clients might be should quickly give you a very clear understanding of their level of experience. Woking out this experience can also extend to their specialities in the field of body corporate when it comes to representing clients – it is very much worth your time finding out whether they represent body corporate managers, receivers, financiers, building managers, and lot owners. This is because the more clients they represent the deeper their understanding of the full spectrum of issues you’ll likely need to contend with. This can also help you to anticipate and better prepare for any issues that will eventually crop up, saving you time, money and a lot of headaches.
Ask some of unexpected questions
Although you might find an experienced lawyer, it’s often just as important knowing whether they have an experienced team backing them up. This way, you can be guaranteed that larger disputes can be tackled with ease and won’t require a last minute scramble. Such extensive teams are also likely to boast more specific knowledge, which can make the team as an entire resource particularly valuable as different skill sets can be applied to different matters as necessary. It’s also very much worth your time asking if there are any Workplace Health and Safety experts that can provide any relevant advice related to regulatory change issues that relate directly to bodies corporate. This is because Workplace Health and Safety related to Body Corporate is very frequently overlooked, and this is something you certainly don’t want in your case. Because of all of the frequent regulatory changes that occur in the industry, it is quite important that any body corporate lawyers you hire can comfortably keep you updated with up to the minute information and practical advice for reliable legal compliance.
Understanding the financials
Sometimes some of the most basic questions can be the most illuminating. You shouldn’t feel awkward about asking about the lawyers fees, and if possible, get these in writing. These should be relatively accurate much of the time so you shouldn’t run into any unexpected problems in the future. However, do keep in mind that these fees will be an estimate, unless otherwise stated. It’s also worth requesting to be notified of any changes to fees and pricing structures, as getting caught out when you were expecting to pay a certain amount can be a pain.
