Typical attorney fees

[Morgan Wells]

Good evening guys, I am buying my first commercial office property. We are just a few weeks away from closing. I hired an attorney to help draft the PA and generally help protect my interests. Purchase price is only 590k but attorney has already billed for over 5k in fees.

Deal structure is pretty vanilla and I've spent about 20 min on phone with attorney. Certainly they took time to draft the PA, but I assume this fee is very much on the high end, correct? Is there a rule of thumb I can use to estimate what I should be paying in future? Market is Minneapolis. Thank you

[Chris K.]

@Morgan Wells

Ask the attorney to break down the costs for you if they haven't already. If I gave you a $5,000 bill, I would typically break it down by dates, hours, and a short description of what I did during those hours. Not all lawyers do it that way but that's how I learned. 

Below is a decent article from the ABA on proper billing practices. Admittedly, the steps below are not always easy to do if you are a solo practitioner or part of a small law firm. But I would say none of them are impossible to do.  

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/committees/young-advocates/practice/2017/billing-tips-for-young-lawyers-how-not-to-let-billing-become-the-bane-of-your-existence

Disclaimer: While I’m an attorney licensed to practice in PA, I’m not your attorney. What I wrote above does not create an attorney/client relationship between us. I wrote the above for informational purposes. Do not rely on it for legal advice. Always consult with your attorney before you rely on the above information.