Comments on: Hacking Legal Fees

By: Mark MacLeod

Mark MacLeod — Thu, 03 May 2012 18:08:25 +0000

Great suggestions Clint. Thanks!

By: Clint Costa

Clint Costa — Thu, 03 May 2012 17:49:41 +0000

Along your lines of "get quotes" I recommend not just a quote but a comprehensive estimate. If the lawyer is experienced and the start-up's management team has worked out the business terms, then it should be pretty simple for the lawyer to foresee all of the steps required to get to the finish line and give a good estimate of the time, cost and personnel used at each step.

One other thing would be to ask for some work to be done on a fixed-fee basis. Very difficult to set a fixed fee for a negotiated financing. Very easy to negotiate a fixed-fee on an organization of business entity and preparation of corporate minute book and stock records.

By: Mark MacLeod

Mark MacLeod — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 20:24:58 +0000

Thanks for the link. Definitely some common advice.

By: Mark MacLeod

Mark MacLeod — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 20:23:56 +0000

Thanks Mark. Knowing who's who comes down to referrals, rather than directories. Like so much in the startup / vc World, it comes down to who you know

By: Abdallah Al-Hakim

Abdallah Al-Hakim — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 13:49:02 +0000

very good post on a topic that is often ignored by entrepreneurs at startups in the early stages. Here is another excellent post about the importance of getting legal advice (posted by Innovation factory in Hamilton) that I tweeted about a few weeks ago http://bit.ly/ItS7Zs

By: Mark Evans

Mark Evans — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 11:38:23 +0000

Mark,

Excellent advice. For startups, I think navigating the legal waters can often be the most challenging because it's so far outside their domain of expertise or networks. A big part of the problem is the lack of a "directory" that startups can rely on that provides good insight into who's good and their areas of expertise.