Paid $400 for a contract review that caught a $12k mistake

I was buying a small commercial property in Nashville last spring and my lawyer wanted me to pay $400 to review the lease assignment. I almost said no because I was trying to save money. Turns out the old tenant had an environmental cleanup clause buried in paragraph 14 that would have landed on me. That $400 saved me from probably $12k in liability. Has anyone else had a cheap legal review pay off big like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

simontorres3d ago

My buddy spent $500 on a contract review for a property deal and the lawyer came back with nothing useful, just said it looked fine. He ended up paying $0 extra in hidden costs anyway, so that money was completely wasted. Honestly, sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you just paid a lawyer to tell you what you already knew.

robin_foster13d ago

Yeah @simontorres got lucky for sure. But that's the thing with contract reviews. You're basically buying insurance against the one clause you missed. I'd rather waste $400 than eat $12k any day. Most people don't realize how common these hidden traps are until it's too late. The lawyer found it or he didn't. That's the gamble.