As trusted partners, the attorneys at Christian & Small assist our clients in drafting and negotiating a wide range of agreements, including intellectual property, manufacturing, real estate, supply contracts, and leases.
General Real Estate Matters
Attorney Jack Kubiszyn focuses on general real estate matters for national clients and represents developers, borrowers, and lenders in commercial real estate loan transactions. Attorney Drew Ellis has developed a diverse business, commercial, and real estate practice, representing a wide range of companies. As part of our 25th anniversary celebration, Drew and Jack share insights into the firm’s transactional practice areas.
From initial negotiations to securing tenants and buyers and overseeing buildouts, Christian & Small is involved at every stage. We work closely with businesses of all sizes to ensure that our clients’ contracts, agreements, and leases contain the necessary legal provisions to protect their interests while remaining clear and concise to prevent future misunderstandings. We protect and enforce our client’s rights under agreements, leases, and property ownership documents, including resolving disputes that may arise.
Litigation work also forms a significant part of our firm’s practice. It covers critical real estate matters such as boundary line disputes, partitioning, zoning, and water rights.
Common Mistakes and Critical Safeguards
Drew and Jack say two of the biggest mistakes in contract drafting that can lead to litigation are failing to properly consider and structure key provisions and inadequate security under such contracts, such as failure to perform adequate due diligence on guarantors.
It is essential to take the time at the beginning to discuss and negotiate vital provisions to ensure the final agreements are clear and comprehensive. This significantly helps minimize disputes and potential litigation between the parties. For example, while a guarantor is intended to provide financial backing and security for a deal, parties often later discover that the guarantor lacks the necessary resources to fulfill their obligations. To avoid this issue, it is crucial to thoroughly vet the guarantor at the beginning of negotiations to ensure they can support the purchase or lease agreement.
A critical safeguard for landlords and property owners is requiring tenants to provide annual financial statement updates as part of the lease agreement and for such statements to maintain a certain monetary threshold.
Legal Guidance for Young Investors
Drew notes that young investors, mainly Gen Z with significant disposable capital, are increasingly drawn to tangible investments like syndicated commercial real estate deals.
He says the trend, which gained momentum during COVID-19 through online crowdfunding, has led to the rise of real estate collectives. While abundant information is online, many investors lack the legal guidance to structure these deals effectively. That’s where Christian & Small comes in.
“I’ve been forming real estate collectives full of younger investors who want to deploy capital that is of interest, but they have no idea how to parachute into it,” says Drew. “People are interested in these collectives, and there’s a lot of information out there on the internet, but not a whole lot of legal counsel.”
Building Lasting Client Relationships
By providing clear insights and guidance upfront, Christian & Small attorneys help clients navigate potential risks and reduce surprises down the road. That way, when the next challenge or opportunity arises, they know exactly who to call for guidance.
“You can never totally eliminate the risk that your clients have in buying, selling, or leasing property,” says Jack, “but you can certainly try to address the issues to minimize the risk, or at least have the risk evaluated so that clients are able to make an informed decision on how much and what risk to assume.”
J. Jack Kubiszyn primarily focuses his practice on general real estate matters for national clients while also representing developers, borrowers, and lenders in commercial real estate loan transactions – including landlord and tenants in leasing matters. He actively represents regional clients in the acquiring and disposing of office buildings, retail shopping centers, and multi-family apartments, and his experience preserves his clients’ interests while helping them avoid the difficulties, including litigation, that can result from the failure to secure effective, knowledgeable counsel.
William “Drew” Ellis has developed a diverse business, commercial, and real estate practice and has experience in construction, healthcare, and professional liability litigation. Drew represents a wide range of companies, from closely-held, small businesses to publicly traded hedge funds in litigation and transactional matters. He routinely represents professionals and businesses in asserting and defending breach of contract, negligence, fraud, and business tort claims. Drew represents various investors, professionals, and tradesmen in real estate disputes and business divorces, facilitating real estate transactions and litigating commercial and construction disputes.
About Christian & Small
Christian & Small LLP represents a diverse clientele throughout Alabama, the Southeast, and the nation, with clients ranging from individuals and closely held businesses to Fortune 500 corporations. By matching highly experienced lawyers with specific client needs, Christian & Small develops innovative, effective, and efficient solutions for clients. With offices in Birmingham, metro-Jackson, Mississippi, and the Alabama Gulf Coast, Christian & Small focuses on the areas of litigation and business, is a member of the International Society of Primerus Law Firms, and is a Mansfield Rule™ Certified Plus Law Firm. Our corporate social responsibility program is focused on education, and diversity is one of Christian & Small’s core values.
No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.