Why Use a Commercial Solicitor?

Commercial property is a serious investment, and an exciting one. Whether you are a landowner, a developer or a public sector body, sooner or later you will lease, buy or sell commercial premises, and the transaction will touch more law than it first appears: planning, environmental, construction, litigation and tax among it. The case for a commercial property solicitor is simply that the stakes justify one.

What a commercial property solicitor brings

The first contribution is the management of risk. A commercial purchase or lease carries personal and professional exposure, and a solicitor's work, drafting and analysing leases, checking contracts, verifying that arrangements are valid and enforceable, is what stands between your business and an expensive surprise. The second is speed and simplicity: the paperwork, the correspondence and the contractual detail are handled for you, correctly and efficiently, while you attend to the business itself. The third is presence: someone to explain each step in plain terms and answer questions as they arise. And the fourth is currency, because property law does not stand still, and a solicitor who follows every development will make sure that changes in the law reach your attention before they reach your bottom line.

The services in practice

A new lease requires detailed provisions governing rent, repair and the obligations of landlord and tenant alike, and both parties benefit from advice before signature rather than argument afterwards. An assignment of lease, the route by which a tenant passes the lease to a third party under the terms the contract allows, needs equal care, since liability does not always depart with the keys. And the sale or purchase of a freehold brings the full apparatus of title investigation, searches and negotiation. In each case the solicitor's task is the same: to make certain you understand your rights and obligations before you are bound by them.

About the author: Dr Aamir Nawaz, LLB (Hons), LLM, PhD, Solicitor, Barrister (np) and Notary Public.