Commission disputes can involve significant sums of money – tens or hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars. And legal fees for lengthy court actions and trials can cost exponentially more. But it doesn’t have to be that way. It is possible to resolve the dispute quicker than going to court.
We handle litigation as well as transactions. Whether you’re a broker, a finder, or an investor dealing with a broker or finder, it is not uncommon to end up in a dispute over the commission. We have helped brokers, finders and investors resolve their commission disputes quickly, through mediation and negotiation. Does that mean we can solve your commission dispute without going to trial? Not necessarily. Every dispute is different. But read just a few of our success stories:
We represented a foreign investor in a six-figure commission dispute involving a San Francisco home. Read her story in her own words:
“My husband and I are overseas investors. We were trying to buy a house in SF. But when our real estate broker threatened to sue us unless we paid a six-figure commission he had not earned, we were shocked, outraged, confused and frankly and intimidated. Adding to our frustration, we live in Asia and were being forced to deal with this potential lawsuit via long distance phone calls and emails.
Fortunately, we found Jeff. He listened to our story, read the documents and quickly understood not only our case but its strengths and weaknesses. He explained those strengths and weaknesses to us clearly so that we understood them. His belief in us and the strength of our case, and the fact that he was as passionate as we were about the injustice of the broker’s claim and about our chances of winning , immediately gave us comfort and made us truly feel we were a team.
We found Jeff and Phil to be extremely thorough and creative problem-solvers every step of the way. We always felt that they had our best interests at heart and were very pragmatic and business-minded about the entire dispute resolution process . We really felt they were more focused on our ultimate bottom line and not their own. Jeff and Phil quickly settled the case through mediation (when we were able to compare the quality of Jeff and Phil’s mediation brief with the broker’s lawyer’s brief, there was no comparison; our brief was vastly superior) in a matter of hours, guiding us every step of the way , saving us significant time, expense, distraction and emotional drain of full-blown litigation, and we are extremely pleased with the outcome.
Would I use Jeff and Phil for our next property deal? ABSOLUTELY! In fact , I would not buy, sell, nor rent any property in the U.S. without having an effective and thorough law firm like Lerman Law Partners look through the contracts first. Having a good lawyer in the high risk real estate market gives the investor considerable peace of mind.
Ning Lim
Hong Kong” (emphasis added)
In another matter, we helped a finder (a finder is somebody who is not a licensed broker, but who plays a role in “finding” an investment opportunity for their client) get paid his commission. Our client found a multifamily investment opportunity for a buyer who refused to pay the agreed commission. Through our direct negotiations with the buyer, we were able to quickly obtain an outcome that exceeded our client’s expectations, as he stated in the following testimonial:
“Phil Diamond and Jeff Lerman did a truly outstanding job representing me in a recent commercial real estate dispute. They took the necessary time to make sure they thoroughly understood my particular situation, then demonstrated initiative in advancing the case that was far above and beyond my expectations. Throughout, I felt that I was in the good hands of attorneys who were assiduously looking out for my interests. The final result was a successful and satisfactory resolution of the case. I could not have asked for a better law firm to handle the case, and I would like to give special thanks to Phil Diamond for his outstanding work on my behalf. I wholeheartedly, and without any reservation, recommend Lerman Law Partners.”
Ted S.
Finally, we also represented a broker who was owed a substantial commission from a developer. The developer refused to pay for reasons which were bogus. Because we believed strongly in the broker’s case, we accepted it on a hybrid contingency basis (where after the intial phase, when the client paid our fee, we converted to a contingency). We managed to resolve the dispute through mediation, during which we were able to obtain a substantial award for our client.
Bottom line: No matter if you’re a broker, finder or property owner, if you have a commission dispute, we can help . Please call or e-mail me ([email protected]) for a complimentary consult regarding your dispute.