Yeah, the investments are doing swimmingly.

April 13, 2012 11:22 AM

LawyerFilter: Need a non-smarmy real estate lawyer in Palm Beach County, FL to help me get out from some underwater properties.

Hi, All - I'm not looking to discuss the ethics of mailing in the keys. I just need to find someone who can help me do it without losing all of my other assets. Recommend me a lawyer who does real estate law, not scammy avoid-foreclosure law. Thanks.

posted by PorcineWithMe to Law & Government (5 answers total)

Best answer: This is what Martindale is for. You can use that to browse attorney websites and filter out the ones that seem scammy. If a lawyer doesn't have a website, that's probably a bad sign.
posted by valkyryn at 11:31 AM on April 13, 2012

Best answer: Hayley Colina. Ethical, brilliant and kind. Full disclosure: I went to law school with her and she is one of my she-roes. She went to law school while raising a family and then went back to get an LLM. She was in real estate for about 20 years before going to law school so she knows her stuff.

And FWIW, Martindale will tell you a lawyer's speciality but it won't tell you at all if he or she is any good.
posted by nubianinthedesert at 1:36 PM on April 13, 2012 [1 favorite]

As a customer, you can also use lawyers.com which is the same database as Martindale, but it's supposed to be for consumers. Also you can look for "Peer Review Ratings" which reflect how other attorneys rate them.
posted by Karmakaze at 1:37 PM on April 13, 2012

Martindale does have peer review ratings. The most desirable is AV.
posted by snuffleupagus at 1:49 PM on April 13, 2012

Response by poster: Thanks! Hayley Colina looks like exactly who I need to talk to. Much appreciated!
posted by PorcineWithMe at 4:06 PM on April 13, 2012