Is my lawyer’s $3,500 fee reasonable for a simple commercial lease review? No retainer + mistakes + minimal negotiation.

Location: New Jersey Hi everyone — looking for some perspective on whether my attorney’s fee is reasonable.

I hired a lawyer to review a 33-page commercial lease in New Jersey. Here are the main points:

1. Her initial email said her fee “should not exceed $3,500.”

This sounded like an estimate or a capped hourly rate, not a flat fee. She also said she’d send a retainer agreement — I never received one.

2. The lease was very standard.

No construction is being done, no pricing negotiations, and almost no meaningful changes.

3. She gave me incorrect CAM/TAX numbers.

The mistake caused a 2-day delay and I almost walked away from the deal because I thought the costs were much higher than they actually were.

4. I had to follow up multiple times to get answers.

Is that normal, and is that kind of back-and-forth usually billable?

5. Now she says it was a flat fee and claims she spent 10+ hours.

Her hourly rate is $400/hr, so she says the bill “would have exceeded $3,500” otherwise. I asked for an itemized breakdown.

Question: For anyone familiar with commercial lease reviews — Is $3,500 reasonable for a simple lease review with minimal negotiation, no retainer agreement, and a CAM/TAX error that almost made me walk away?

Thanks in advance.