Cohousing-L Mailing List: lawyer selection

[C2pattee (C2pattee]

Greater Hartford Cohousing recently selected a lawyer to guide us through the 
formation of our LLC-the organizational structure that was recommended to us 
for purchase of land and residential construction.  Initially, we were going 
to go the 'boiler plate' route, filling out the state of Connecticut form, 
then having a lawyer familiar with LLCs and house closings look it over and 
submit it for us.

However, we soon realized the content of the document was not just boiler 
plate, but the fundamental agreement that legally bound us together, as it 
specifies how we will collect money, and return it if things don't work out 
for an individual or a group.  Furthermore, the first lawyer we contacted, 
after saying she could do the boilerplate for $300, changed her mind after 
realizing she didn't understand enough about cohousing.  (A very responsible 
decision, I thought.)  She gave us the names of three lawyers better versed 
in real estate law.  It turns out you need someone knowledgeable about 
'community association' law and real estate development.  Looking in the 
Yellow Pages under 'real estate' (we were flying pretty blind ), I saw 
something called the Community Law Association, and they were able to give me 
some more names.

We have a four person Professional Hiring Committee to make the final 
decision on whom to hire, but I phone interviewed all the names on the list 
before deciding whom to interview.  We started with the guru of community 
housing law in CT, who gave me a useful (and free) overview of issues we'd 
have to deal with - then estimated it would cost us $100,000 at his company's 
rates to do what we needed to have done.  Suffice it to say that we didn't 
interview him in person.  Incidentally, you shouldn't have to pay a lawyer to 
interview him/her.

We ended up with a woman lawyer who has lots of experience in community 
associations and real estate development, AND is very excited about the whole 
idea of cohousing.  She's already done reading and Internet research on her 
own.  She is charging us by the task, rather than hourly.  The group's job 
now is to answer a list of content questions she gave us, and then she'll 
draft the document.  

All the lawyers told us it would be simpler and cheaper to work from other 
coho documents.  I was able to get several sets from cohousing groups that 
generously made them available on the Net.  I have them in a neat little 
Bylaws file, which I'd be happy to pass on to anyone who emails me off list.

You ask "The first question I have is about how important it is for the 
general =
group to be involved in the final stage of interviews with lawyers? My =
fellow committee members don't want to make the process any more =
complicated than it needs to be and wonder whether it would be adequate =
for the committee to make the decision. I feel that we should get a =
better feeling for how the lawyer will be working with a group, so =
should put him/her in that situation immediately and see how he/she =
handles it.=20

I strongly recommend that you NOT have the whole group interview or work with 
the lawyer.  It will be wasteful of their time and your money, and probably 
not very productive.  Legal issues, though important, are MEGO (my eyes glaze 
over) for most people.  Also, even a lawyer enthusiastic about the concept of 
cohousing is probably a lot less interested in 'group process'.

Christine Pattee
Greater Hartford Connecticut Cohousing
c2pattee [at] aol.com

From: "Bob Bolt" <rbolt [at] monad.net>
To: <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2001 22:40:47 -0400
Subject: [C-L]_lawyer selection
Reply-To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org

Hi!

I'm new to the list serve and I'd like to introduce myself. My name is =
Stephanie Hurley and I'm a member of Northstar Cohousing, which is a =
group of 5 families trying to start a cohousing community in the =
Peterborough, NH area. We are presently working through a boilerplate =
LLC and will soon be needing a lawyer to advise us on it. Therefore, we =
are beginning our search for a lawyer and I am soliciting advice from =
the listserve. By the way, I did spend at least an hour searching for =
"">previous discussions about this and didn't find any. Maybe I was looking =
in the wrong place, so I'll also welcome help in how to properly search =
for specific information.

The first question I have is about how important it is for the general =
group to be involved in the final stage of interviews with lawyers? My =
fellow committee members don't want to make the process any more =
complicated than it needs to be and wonder whether it would be adequate =
for the committee to make the decision. I feel that we should get a =
better feeling for how the lawyer will be working with a group, so =
should put him/her in that situation immediately and see how he/she =
handles it.=20

We also don't want to have to pay lots of money just to interview =
lawyers. Have other groups found that lawyers will do this without pay, =
in hopes of getting our business?

Finally, do you have any really great questions to ask the lawyers? We =
already have come up with a basic list (area of expertise, knowledge of =
local zoning, cluster development, consensus, cohousing and cost).=20

Do any of you have examples of difficult legal problems that were =
encountered that we could share with a lawyer to see how he/she might =
suggest handling it?

Any legal advice or "stories" would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Stephanie Hurley
<shurley [at] monad.net>
57 Union Street
Peterborough, NH 03458
603-924-4230