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What Start-ups Should Know About Hiring a Lawyer

thedailymuse.com

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Re: What Start-ups Should Know About Hiring a Lawyer

#5

Post by ido »

sixQuarks wrote: post #2

What kind of startup can afford $350-$800/hour lawyers?

If it's your first business and you're strapped for cash you can often get free legal advice (in Austria that would be from the Wirtschaftskammer - the ministry of commerce).

Worth checking out which small-business programs your local government provide- a lot of them do, especially for "clean industries" like software.

Re: What Start-ups Should Know About Hiring a Lawyer

#6

Post by jacques_chester »

Here's what I learnt in law school:

Do you have a legal question? See a lawyer.

A few hundred dollars now versus an uncapped downside later? You're basically crazy if you don't.

Your lawyer and accountant are to your business what a doctor and a dentist are to your body. You see them regularly, they give you specialist advice and they can save you serious trouble if you take their advice. These individuals see more permutations of business in a week than you will see in a year.

So stop double guessing whether your company will need a lawyer. You will. You just might not understand it yet. Lawyers and accountants are part of the cost of being in business. It's not their responsibility to be cheap. It's your responsibility to produce enough value for your customers that a profit gets made somewhere in the mix.

Like the article says, shop around. I'm the middle of getting a patent drafted. I picked my lawyer[1] based on the fact that he had a computer science degree and industry experience. You can do the same. Ask. Inquire.

And remember, lawyers are like drug dealers: the first taste is usually free. Go meet them. If you don't like them, see someone else. It's business, after all, not your personal life.

[1] http://www.ghfip.com.au/ws/principal-attorneys/index.jsp#Tho...

Re: What Start-ups Should Know About Hiring a Lawyer

#7

Post by sharkweek »

jacques_chester wrote: post #6

Here's what I learnt in law school: Do you have a legal question? See a lawyer. A few hundred dollars now versus an uncapped downside later? You're basically crazy if you don't. Your lawyer and accountant are to your business what a doctor and a dentist are to your body. You see them regularly, they give you specialist advice and they can save you serious trouble if you take their advice. These individuals see more p…

I clerked at a law office while I was in college -- the lawyers there were happy to offer free 30 minute consultations because the conversion rate of the people that showed up for those was actually pretty high. It was a great way to build trust right off the bat and to ensure it was a good fit for a longer term partnership

Re: What Start-ups Should Know About Hiring a Lawyer

#8

Post by jacques_chester »

t413 wrote: post #3

That's incredible how much a lawyer's hourly rate is. A senior partner >$1000/hour? It's amazing how expensive risk reduction services are that, in my mind, equate to a blame shifting strategy.

In court cases where hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars are on the line, it makes sense to pay the lawyer who is 1% better even if he or she costs %100 more.

Anyway. You won't be hiring the $1000/hr lawyer. For almost all the stuff that startups need to get done, a lawyer who charges in the sub-500 range is going to get it done and done well.

Don't let sticker shock fool you. Lawyers provide an essential service. It would be nice if we didn't need them. It would also be nice to get free unicorns and backrubs from models. Too bad, that's not the world we live in.

Re: What Start-ups Should Know About Hiring a Lawyer

#10

Post by jacques_chester »

sharkweek wrote: post #7
jacques_chester wrote: post #6

Here's what I learnt in law school: Do you have a legal question? See a lawyer. A few hundred dollars now versus an uncapped downside later? You're basically crazy if you don't. Your lawyer and accountant are to your business what a doctor and a dentist are to your body. You see them regularly, they give you specialist advice and they can save you serious trouble if you take their advice. These individuals see more p…

I clerked at a law office while I was in college -- the lawyers there were happy to offer free 30 minute consultations because the conversion rate of the people that showed up for those was actually pretty high. It was a great way to build trust right off the bat and to ensure it was a good fit for a longer term partnership

Exactly. And for the same reason my lawyer above is giving me a fixed-price on the work he's doing.

(I think he's nuts for quoting fixed-price on anything legal, but I'm hardly going to say no.)

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