How We Work
Senior counsel on every matter. AI on the groundwork.
Cea Legal P.C. is a transactional firm for real estate, private equity, crypto and fintech, and corporate clients. Every matter is handled personally by founding attorney Michele Cea. We use frontier AI as a research, drafting and review instrument, so the time we bill for goes to judgment and negotiation, not to work a machine can do faster.
The result is senior-level attention at a price that small and mid-sized businesses can plan around.
What you get:
- A price at the start. We scope the matter, put a fixed fee in the engagement letter and hold to it unless the deal itself changes.
- One attorney, start to finish. Your matter is not passed down a chain of junior lawyers. The person you meet at intake is the person who negotiates your lease or closes your deal.
- Momentum. Document review and first drafts come back in hours, so the other side is waiting on us less often.
- Lessons from repeat deals. Our checklists draw on years of practice, including more than 50 restaurant leases negotiated for tenants in New York City.
How a matter runs:
Our AI tools do the volume work: reading, sorting, comparing and first drafts. The attorney decides what matters, negotiates it and is responsible for the final document.
|
Stage |
What AI does |
What the attorney does |
|---|---|---|
| Intake and scoping | Organizes the documents and facts you send; builds a matter summary | Defines the scope, the risks that matter to you and a flat fee |
| Review | First-pass review of leases, purchase agreements, operating agreements and diligence materials against our negotiation positions | Decides which issues to raise, which to concede and how hard to push |
| Research | Pulls statutes, regulations and case law from primary sources | Reads the authority and decides what it means for your deal |
| Drafting | Prepares first drafts and redlines from the firm’s own precedent | Rewrites, negotiates and finalizes |
| Closing | Tracks open items, checklists and signature packets | Runs the closing and answers to you |
Your information:
Client information stays within systems the firm has vetted for professional use.
- We use enterprise-grade AI under terms that do not permit training on client inputs.
- Client documents are kept in the firm’s secure document system and accessed only for the matter they belong to.
- Your documents are never pasted into free public AI apps.
- If your organization has its own AI or data-handling policy, tell us at intake and we will work within it, including not using AI on your matter at all.
How we check the work:
We treat AI output as a draft that has to be proven. Every authority and every number is traced back to its source before you see it.
- Statutes and regulations are read from official sources, such as the New York State Senate’s consolidated laws, the Delaware Code and the eCFR.
- Case law is read in the full opinion from a primary legal database, and is used only once the attorney has confirmed it supports the point.
- Deal terms such as rent schedules, purchase prices, dates and defined terms are cross-checked against the documents themselves.
- Filing requirements, fees and deadlines are confirmed against the agency’s current published guidance.
If an authority cannot be verified, we say so rather than rely on it. The technology changes how fast the work gets done, not who is accountable for it.
Frequently asked questions:
Will a computer be giving me legal advice?
No. AI prepares research and drafts. Every piece of advice comes from, and is signed by, a licensed attorney.
Is my information used to train AI models?
No. We use AI only under terms that exclude training on client inputs, and your documents never go into free public AI apps.
Can I ask you not to use AI on my matter?
Yes. Tell us at intake. The fee may differ, and we will tell you if it does before work begins.
Do flat fees really cover everything?
A flat fee covers the scope set out in the engagement letter. If the deal changes materially, we agree any change in writing before doing the additional work.
What kinds of matters do you handle?
Commercial and residential real estate, including restaurant and retail leases; private equity and asset management; crypto and fintech; and corporate and business law. We do not handle litigation.
Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Viewing this page or contacting the firm does not create an attorney-client relationship. Cea Legal P.C., 14 Wall Street, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10005. (212) 847-5007.