Category: Startup Lawyer (Choosing Counsel & Legal Ops)
-
Keep the Bridge Burning to a Minimum
A few months ago, I was on a conference call with opposing counsel to negotiate a client’s deal. Things got a little heated (the only time I’ve ever experienced a hostile communication with another attorney) and eventually I got hung up on. I was about to call the attorney back and show him what I…
-
How Much to Pay Your Startup Lawyer
Think back to the last time you wrote a business plan for a startup. Do you recall your estimated expense for legal fees? $1,000? $10,000? $0? How much to spend on legal fees is a common issue for startup companies with more than one correct answer. However, there are a few factors that suggest your…
-
Fixed Fees: A Must Have When You Hire a Law Firm
Lawyers and their law firms are increasingly making fixed fee or “project pricing” available to their clients. This is especially true for startup company clients, as they typically have well-defined legal issues and needs. There are 3 main reasons why your startup company should have a fixed fee arrangement with your law firm instead of…
-
How to Know You Have Found a Great Startup Lawyer
A reader emailed me asking: How do I know I have found a great startup lawyer? And judging by this blog’s most frequent search keywords, you may be asking yourself that question, too. Evaluating your startup lawyer (or any lawyer for that matter) can be a difficult task because a lawyer’s work product tends to…
-
Please Do Not Hire Google, Esq.
You have many choices when selecting a lawyer to assist your startup company…us lawyers aren’t exactly an endangered species. But one decision you should never make is to draft legal documents yourself. These documents are just too critical to be drafted and–more importantly–issue spotted without legal education and experience.Because entrepreneurs are resourceful and capital tends…
-
Prevention Always Makes Cents, Part II
I wanted to follow-up with you concerning the importance of taking preventative legal steps when starting your business. Googling this weekend, I found a blog entry from Rhonda Abrams, author of The Passionate Entrepreneur on Yahoo! Finance. Here’s an excerpt: “Taking care of your company’s legal health is like taking care of your personal health:…
-
Prevention Always Makes Cents
A recent Wall Street Journal article detailed the steps you should take to avoid collection problems when expanding your business across state lines. The article suggested prevention was by far the best defense. I believe that’s right, but I’ll make a much broader statement: Prevention is the best defense for any potential business problem. As…