Finding the Right Attorney for Your HOA

Our association board will be interviewing three lawyers.  What are some questions we should be asking?

The quality of professional advisors serving your community association can cast a positive or negative reflection on the board.  As with most hiring decisions a volunteer board makes, undertaking sufficient due diligence usually renders the best result.

Here are some questions boards can ask potential legal candidates:

❚ What is the size of the team available to assist our community?

Even small communities can have large needs. If your board wants to keep legal needs under one umbrella, make sure the law firm you choose has the capacity to handle daily issues and other matters as they come up. For example, they must be able to handle commercial litigation if your concrete restoration project goes awry, land use and zoning issues if troubling new construction crops up next door, intellectual property litigation if you suffer from trademark infringement, bad faith litigation if your casualty claim is denied, and much more.

❚ What are the best ways to contact you, and how quickly should we expect a response?

You should have several communication channels available when working with legal counsel.  Email is the channel most often used but calls and texts also should be an option.  If your association attorney offers to give you his or her cell number, it is usually a good sign that they understand that exigent circumstances crop up that need immediate attention.

❚ What new laws passed last legislative session that we need to know about, and what new laws are anticipated in the upcoming session?

The best association attorneys not only have expertise in spotting issues, drafting documents, and problem solving but also keep abreast of legislation that can impact association operations each year. A commitment to proactively educating clients on new laws and association best practices also is a good sign.

In addition to posing questions, don’t forget to ask for a writing sample because a successful attorney-client relationship requires clear communications.  You can ask to see a redacted legal opinion, sample demand letter, blog post, document amendment, or some other written communication that will give your board some idea of how this attorney communicates and whether they would be a great fit for your community.