Hiring a Startup Lawyer • Hacker News Board

Re: Hiring a Startup Lawyer

#21

Post by brandnewlow » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 1:08 AM UTC

digitallawyer wrote: post #20

jacquesm wrote: post #17

I'd like to plug George Grellas ( https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=grellas ) in case you're not aware of him, just reading his comment history should give you a lot of food for thought. He's one of HN's secret assets. See also: http://www.grellas.com/faq_business_startup.html

+1 one that one. Protip: If you get a chance to meet George, make sure to ask him about 83(b) elections.

George represented me personally on the Perfect Audience acquisition deal and was immensely helpful and responsive.

Re: Hiring a Startup Lawyer

#22

Post by employeethrwy » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 2:03 AM UTC

Does anyone have any recommendations for legal advice for startup employees? Specifically, I've been offered equity in the startup I work for and would like a professional opinion on the stock grant contract they're offering etc.

Any links to blog posts, recommended lawyers, or fixed fee services would be appreciated!

(Throwaway account as my colleagues know my real one)

Re: Hiring a Startup Lawyer

#23

Post by digitallawyer » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 2:11 AM UTC

employeethrwy wrote: post #22

Does anyone have any recommendations for legal advice for startup employees? Specifically, I've been offered equity in the startup I work for and would like a professional opinion on the stock grant contract they're offering etc. Any links to blog posts, recommended lawyers, or fixed fee services would be appreciated! (Throwaway account as my colleagues know my real one)

Check out:

- https://angel.co/salaries. It includes equity and salary info.

- http://avc.com/2010/11/employee-equity-how-much/

Re: Hiring a Startup Lawyer

#24

Post by employeethrwy » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 2:14 AM UTC

digitallawyer wrote: post #23

employeethrwy wrote: post #22

Does anyone have any recommendations for legal advice for startup employees? Specifically, I've been offered equity in the startup I work for and would like a professional opinion on the stock grant contract they're offering etc. Any links to blog posts, recommended lawyers, or fixed fee services would be appreciated! (Throwaway account as my colleagues know my real one)

Check out: - https://angel.co/salaries . It includes equity and salary info. - http://avc.com/2010/11/employee-equity-how-much/

Thanks for the links! I was meaning more to check over the draft of the contract they've prepared (type of stock units, terms and conditions related to vesting, etc) rather than what's a reasonable equity expectation.

In any case, I just created an account and sent a message through LawGives. If anyone else has any other links they'd be much appreciated.

Re: Hiring a Startup Lawyer

#25

Post by teachingaway » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 3:04 AM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #17

I'd like to plug George Grellas ( https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=grellas ) in case you're not aware of him, just reading his comment history should give you a lot of food for thought. He's one of HN's secret assets. See also: http://www.grellas.com/faq_business_startup.html

whoa... just spent an hour reading some of Grellas' HN essays. Insightful stuff.

DC Toedt is another solid lawyer worth reading on HN. Out of Texas, I think. https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=dctoedt

Re: Hiring a Startup Lawyer

#26

Post by teachingaway » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 3:06 AM UTC

employeethrwy wrote: post #22

Does anyone have any recommendations for legal advice for startup employees? Specifically, I've been offered equity in the startup I work for and would like a professional opinion on the stock grant contract they're offering etc. Any links to blog posts, recommended lawyers, or fixed fee services would be appreciated! (Throwaway account as my colleagues know my real one)

explanation of stock options generally - http://blog.alexmaccaw.com/an-engineers-guide-to-stock-optio...

Re: Hiring a Startup Lawyer

#27

Post by thechrisoshow_ » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 12:38 PM UTC

reinhardt wrote: post #10

ptype wrote: post #8

Any recommendations for London/UK based startup lawyer? (Incorporation, shareholder agreement etc)

https://www.lexoo.co.uk/

Chris here, the CTO of Lexoo.

Thanks for the recommendation! Just out of curiosity - how did you hear about us? (Feel free to email me at chris@lexoo.co.uk)

Re: Hiring a Startup Lawyer

#28

Post by a3camero » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 3:11 PM UTC

RedditKon wrote: post #13

digitallawyer wrote: post #12

Upfront disclosure: I am one of the founders of LawGives, an online legal marketplace focussed on fixed fee services. I used to work at DLA Piper as a tech / IP lawyer. Opinions are my own. As part of our work with LawGives we've helped hundreds of entrepreneurs find legal help with business and immigration matters. In my experience, there are basically three ways in which companies go about dealing with their legal…

Excellent post. Additionally - there has been a recent push in the legal industry to "unbundle legal services." This means that you can use a wide variety of attorneys for individual tasks, rather than one attorney for everything. In short, unbundled legal services give you choice. An example of what this choice might look like for a startup founder: Founders can do commonplace tasks themselves, such as writing an em…

I'm a lawyer and the developer behind a Canadian unbundled legal service site: flatlaw.ca. It can be a great way to get what you want if you know what you need.

If you're fairly knowledgeable about your legal needs then it can be a good way to reduce costs + get better counsel. For example, if you're an employment lawyer who doesn't know any trademark attorneys you can use the site to quickly find local lawyers who might be able to assist your client. Also useful for startups who know their needs (e.g. they need to incorporate and get an independent contractor agreement).