When I first got into commercial/industrial real estate fresh out of college, a very wise man and highly-respected veteran in the commercial/industrial real estate industry said to me:

"Do whatever you can to stay out of litigation over a real estate commission. It's just not worth it."

Being fresh out of college and not knowing any better, at the time I had great faith in the American judicial system and thought that surely justice would prevail if I had been wronged in a real estate transaction. However, now being a veteran of having chased several commissions through the legal system, I know better.

Our legal system is far from being black and white. In fact it is extremely gray. If you took the same case before 10 different judges you would get 10 different opinions. You would win your case with some of the judges and you would lose it with the other judges. This is simply the way the system is. One party will win and one will lose, and both attorneys will get paid.

If you must sue for your commission and you feel you have a great case do your best to hire an attorney who will take your case on a contingency basis. Good attorneys who will take a real estate commission case on contingency are getting more difficult to find nowadays, but if you spend some time looking you can still find them.

I simply feel much better knowing that my attorney will only cost me money if I win the case. While I'd like to be able to believe that an attorney who gets paid the same amount of money whether he or she wins or loses my case will be as thoroughly prepared for all aspects of my case, I simply have a tough time believing this.