def METHOD_NAME(self, remote_cmd: str = "") -> bool:
    """Check if the dest_file already exists on the file system (return boolean)."""
    if self.direction == "put":
        if not remote_cmd:
            remote_cmd = f"file ls {self.file_system}/{self.dest_file}"
        remote_out = self.ssh_ctl_chan._send_command_str(remote_cmd)
        search_string = re.escape(f"{self.file_system}/{self.dest_file}")
        if "ERROR" in remote_out:
            return False
        elif re.search(search_string, remote_out):
            return True
        else:
            raise ValueError("Unexpected output from check_file_exists")
    elif self.direction == "get":
        return os.path.exists(self.dest_file)
    else:
        raise ValueError("Unexpected value for self.direction")