I have spoken to countless brokers who have indicated that they will merely counsel their clients to seek the advice of an attorney. They reject the notion that it is their responsibility to knowledgeably discuss or have expertise in the other issues of significance that surround a lease document. Conveniently, brokers are usually required to recommend that clients have an attorney review the lease agreement. Somehow, many have come to feel that this actually relieves them of any obligation or duty to delve more deeply into the business points of the lease. When you consider the potential negative effect a lease can have on a company's bottom line, this is foolish.
Leases are usually very long, complex and often printed in very small type.
For the most part, everyone hates to read them. Big companies, who have their own real estate department, in-house attorneys and multiple business locations, are used to modifying leases to their own standards and landlords are used to negotiating those changes. If your client doesn't fit that profile, you're going to have to do a little work to protect their interests. Essentially, a lease is much like a partnership agreement in that it sets out the parameters of a business relationship. When everything goes as planned, most any lease will serve the parties well but the true test occurs when there are hiccups in the relationship.