Irish solicitor to act in purchase of property in USA

Does anyone have any recommendations for an Irish solicitor for the purchase of a foreign property in FL, USA?

Why would you want an Irish practising solicitor for a foreign property transaction? (S)he has no expertise unless qualified and practising in that jurisdiction.

Askar said:

Why would you want an Irish practising solicitor for a foreign property transaction? (S)he has no expertise unless qualified and practising in that jurisdiction.

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There are Irish solicotors linked with US lawyers. They are also notaries, it means you don't have to travel back to sign documents, etc.

This whole notion of using Irish lawyers to deal with transactions in other countries has got to be one of the daftest ideas yet. What possible use is a lawyer from (say) Tullamore if you are buying a property in Chicago? If you were American, and the situation was reversed, would you use a lawyer from Chicago to buy the property in Tullamore? What possible local knowledge would they have, apart altogether from issues about knowledge of Irish law?

I have always used competent lawyers in whatever territory I was working in. Apart from their being qualified in their own country, their local knowledge has saved me from problems on more than one occasion. Good local law firms will know all about a developer and the strength of his business. In addition, they will know about any local planning issues that your own due dilligence may have missed. Do you know what is being built on the field across the road? Best person to tell you may be your lawyer; you will get a straighter answer from him than from some salesman who just wants to get a sale across the line.

I was speaking to someone a few weeks ago who had a friend who needed some legal work done in Spain. The friend had a good Spanish lawyer, a really top line law firm, but for some reason he engaged an irish company that purported to deal with property law in several countries. The Irish aw firm sublet the job to a Spanish law firm, who in turn sublet it to the guy's original lawyer, but at exactly twice the rate that he would have paid in the first place. When he had had a good laugh about what he had done, he went straight to his original lawyer and cut out the various layers.

There is a very strange belief in some quarters in Ireland that all lawyers in other countries are incompetent! A very racist assumption indeed!

auto320 said:

There is a very strange belief in some quarters in Ireland that all lawyers in other countries are incompetent! A very racist assumption indeed!

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You are assuming a lot about peoples beliefs. I believe that it would be more convenient to deal with a solicitor in the country that I live. Nothing racist about that, methinks.........

What I am trying to get across is the reason why people feel drawn to dealing with an Irish Lawyer when doing business in another country, rather than employing a lawyer or a law firm with the necessary knowledge.

On numerous occasions I have come across Irish people buying property abroad, and doing other kinds of business abroad, and they have no faith in "foreign" lawyers, There is an assumption that somehow all foreigners are out to get us, and that this includes the professions.

In fact, in my own experience, lawyers all over the world in general (there are always a few exceptions, remember a couple of high-profile cases here) are conscious of the respinsibilities of their profession and act acordingly, i.e. in the interests of the client.

If I am doing a major deal in Bonn, I want a local lawyer who can speak the language, understands the local laws, and knows the background to the other side. I don't want some guy from Dalkey who has none of the above advantages.

i have purchsed a property in florida and you certainly dont need an irish solicitor in the mix. You can get all you documents notarised in american embassy so you dont have to go back to the states. The only thing you need to go to the states for is to open a bank account. You have to be at the counter to do this because they wont allow any money to leave the account until they see you for the first time.

All legals are carried out by a title closing company who are an indepentant company of all parties. It actually works very well and is far more straight forward than here.

If you want any help let me know have been through the system a few times. Its daunting at first but is actually very user friendly the american purchase system. Your total closing costs will amount to about 4-5% of your sale depending on your bank.

The Irish lawyers I've dealt with have proven to be much more in-efficient/expensive/generally disorganised than those I've used abroad. It's a crazy idea to use an Irish lawyer for this transaction. Try to get recommendations from people who have already gone through this process in the part of Florida you're buying in.

Your agent could recommend a solicitor to use, just like here in Ireland regulation is very important, in fact post Enron and other scandals its even tighter, use the internet to identify and then work with one of their top 5 firms in the state you wish to buy in, Any time I have purchased the Irish agent has arranged the opening of a bank account, I have never met my relationship manager in my bank there and never set foot in it.

Best of luck with your purchase, Florida is always special but operate with due diligence, it is hurricane and storm prone after all

Thanks for all the constructive replies. PMing you now, Palerider and KKeliher.