Real estate attorneys handle the ownership and transfer of property: purchase and sale contracts, title problems, closings, easements and boundary disputes, zoning and land use applications, commercial leases, construction and development agreements, and litigation over all of it.
In some states an attorney is required at a residential closing; in others the work is done by a title company and a lawyer appears only when something goes wrong. Commercial deals almost always involve counsel on both sides.
Before you hire
- Bring the contract before you sign it, not after. Most of what a real estate lawyer can fix cheaply is fixable only at the drafting stage.
- For a purchase, ask what the flat fee covers: contract review, title review, closing attendance, or all three.
- For disputes — boundaries, undisclosed defects, easements, HOA fights — ask about experience in the county where the property sits. Land records and local practice vary.
Landlord-tenant, construction, foreclosure defence and municipal land use matters have their own categories in this directory.