When interviewing a real estate lawyer, you will want to focus your questions on her educational background, grades, experience, professional certifications and legal expertise. You'll want to ask all of the standard questions about educational background, but a good real estate lawyer should have specific experience in the real estate field as well as course work related to property law.
Real Estate Lawyers
Real estate lawyers meet with clients in order to assist with property sales, property transfers, property valuations and compliance with state, local and federal laws. Real estate lawyers must also have drafting skills as they need to prepare contracts, deeds, property easements and other court documents involving real estate law. Ask your candidate if she has experience with the type of real estate documents that your company handles and why she is interested in real estate law. You may also wish to request a writing sample so that you can determine your applicant's aptitude for writing.
Educational Background
When interviewing a real estate lawyer, be sure to discuss her undergraduate degree, her LSAT performance and her law school education. You will need to cover all of these subjects in your interview, and you may also ask specific questions regarding GPA and LSAT scores in order to distinguish candidates. An extremely qualified real estate lawyer may also have a master's degree focusing on property law.
Certifications
In most states, a lawyer is required to pass the state bar exam and the multi-state professional responsibility exam in order to practice law. Your potential candidate should be licensed to practice law in the state where your company is located or in all states where your company assists with real estate transactions. You may also consider candidates who are already admitted to practice law in other jurisdictions who are willing to sit for the state bar exam in your jurisdiction. Also, very qualified candidates may have their realtor's license or other professional licenses involving real estate transactions. Ask your candidate about all applicable certifications, licenses and professional affiliations.
Experience
Be sure to ask your potential candidate about all relevant work experience and her relationship with past employers. Even if your company is looking to hire an entry-level real estate lawyer, the candidate should have an educational background with a focus on property law, communications, analytics and logic. More qualified candidates may have experience at other law firms handling real estate transactions, experience negotiating and closing high level deals or non-law-related real estate experience as a broker or a realtor.
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Writer Bio
Louis Kroeck started writing professionally under the direction of Andrew Samtoy from the "Cleveland Sandwich Board" in 2006. Kroeck is an attorney out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania specializing in civil litigation, intellectual property law and entertainment law. He has a B.S from the Pennsylvania State University in information science technology and a J.D. from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.