I'm three weeks from closing on the sale of my landscaping business and my attorney keeps picking fights over language in the purchase agreement that the buyer's side says is standard. Every call turns into a 45-minute debate about indemnification clauses and I'm the one paying by the hour. I hired him to get the deal done, not to win an argument. Anybody figured out how to rein this in without pissing off the guy holding the pen?
Legal
How to keep your attorney focused on closing the deal instead of arguing
You need to tell him plainly: 'I'm not paying you to litigate a deal that isn't in litigation.' Some attorneys treat every negotiation like a deposition. Set a budget and make him flag anything that would change your net proceeds before he starts drafting.
lol attorneys arguing? shocking. next you'll tell me water is wet
Honestly renegotiate the fee arrangement. Flat fee for the closing, contingency for anything Beyond a defined scope. His incentive changes overnight when the meter isn't running. Worked for me when I sold my HVAC company.
Flat fee is a good call but make sure the scope is written down or you'll trade hourly arguments for scope agruments.
Not every fight is wasted though. My attorney argued hard over a working capital adjustment and it saved me about 40 grand because the buyer was trying to sneak in a formula that would've clawed back money at closing. You might ask him which of these fights actually have dollars attached and which are just about him being right.
Fair point. But there's a difference between a $40k adjustment and an attorney redlining the buyer's rep package because it's technically imprecise. The latter is ego.
Have you tried just... sitting in on the calls and asking 'what's the practical risk here?' After the third or fourth time he has to explain that the risk is basically zero, he'll start letting stuff go himself.
or fire him. three weeks out is tight but not impossible. sometimes the best way to keep your attorney focused is a different attorney
Firing your counsel three weeks before closing is a great way to have the buyer's side smell blood and start re-trading the deal. Terrible advice even as a joke.
it wass only like 60% a joke
One more thing — put it in writing. Email him a short note: 'My priority is closing on schedule. Please only raise issues that affect deal economics or create real post-closing exposure.' Now the scope is documented and he can't pretend he didn't hear you.