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1/ Working with lawyers is one of the things every founder has to do at some point, whether it's in filing trademarks, contract review, or any number of other legal topics.
Here's what I've learned about working with lawyers and hopefully demystify some stuff that's not obvious.
Here's what I've learned about working with lawyers and hopefully demystify some stuff that's not obvious.
2/ There are many specialties of law you'll encounter as a founder.
For the most part, most founders will need what's commonly known as a small business attorney.
For the most part, most founders will need what's commonly known as a small business attorney.
3/ Small business attorneys are sort of a jack-of-all-trades, but typically focus on entity formation/management, contracts, and intellectual property. A small business attorney will often be your first stop for all legal matters.
4/ Your attorney will generally charge you somewhere between $250/hr and $600/hr, in ten minute increments. Small business attorneys are shockingly efficient with their time. They very rarely are starting on your requests from scratch, which saves you a lot of money.
5/ For example, when you request an employment contract be drawn up, they're going to snag the standard one they have for the purpose and modify it from there rather than write a new one from scratch.
6/ This sounds like a lot for a company just starting out, but it's worthwhile. You can often get everything you need for a new company for less than $2,000.
7/ I've heard before that some people are worried their attorney is out to nickel-and-dime them to death--this is a misplaced fear. Your attorney works for you and they have ethical obligations to adhere to.
8/ Those ethical obligations are serious: unlike when your plumber over-bills you and your recourse is "a bad review on Yelp," the attorney jeopardizes their license and standing with the Bar Association. They're not risking that over a few hundred bucks.
9/ Finding an attorney can be a challenge. You'll need to interview prospective ones. Ask them what their best clients look like. They can't name names, but they can give a good profile. If they don't have a good answer (read: Everyone is a fit!) thank them and move on.
10/ Generally, you're looking for experience in your kind of business. While much of business law is generalized, industry experience helps tremendously.
11/ Example: If you're a SaaS company, you don't want to be explaining how self-service, monthly-recurring software sales works to your lawyer. If you expect to be raising money from venture, you'll want your attorney to be experienced with it.
12/ Likewise, if you're a company working with the retail industry, your lawyer's experience with retail can come in quite handy. Don't underestimate the value of industry knowledge here.
13/ The best place to start with finding your attorney is asking other founders for intros. If others are anything like me, I've found myself making intros to my attorney almost weekly. Barring that, Yelp isn't too bad.
14/ Working effectively with your attorney is where I've seen many founders struggle. Your attorney needs context to properly serve your interests. You can think of attorneys as professionals at risk mitigation.
15/ Aside on risk mitigation: It should be no surprise that many Boards and executive teams are filled with people with law backgrounds. Law teaches you how to think critically--something valuable for every role.
16/ Given that nothing you do will ever be entirely without risk, your lawyer requires as much context around a situation and your intent as you can provide in order to provide you with the best risk assessment and advice possible.
17/ Be honest and truthful with your attorney; don't hide things from them. The more context you can provide, the better your outcome.
18/ Your lawyer will not be making decisions for you. There is a reason lawyers are referred to as "counselor": their job is to provide you with advice. They serve the interests of your business and take direction from you.
19/ This bears repeating: your lawyer will explain the risks and mitigations of a decision, but it is *your job* to decide. Asking your lawyer what you should do will result in the always-frustrating "It depends."
20/ Of course, a wise founder should respond back with, "What does it depend on?" This will often turn into a discussion and can be incredibly enlightening.
21/ One thing I didn't anticipate: Attorneys are well-connected. Not only do they often know a lot of other attorneys in the city (particularly true for those involved in litigation!), but they also tend to be a hub of unrelated professionals.
22/ If you're looking for a CPA, tax advisor, wealth manager, insurance broker, another attorney in a specific specialization, banker, or any other professional of the licensed/regulated variety, chances are high that your attorney has a few people in their rolodex.
23/ They're thrilled to make an introductions to these people, too. When I need a professional and I'm not sure where to go, my attorney is always my first stop--and often the only stop I need to make.
24/ Attorneys play the long game with their network. Their reputation is their Crown Jewels. Most attorneys get new clients by referral, just like they're doing with those intros.
25/ Most interestingly, they're not getting paid for them by the person they're sending you to. Why not? Because ethics generally prohibits such scenarios unless explicitly disclosed beforehand, leading many attorneys to just not bother.
26/ Why does that matter? Because it means any introduction your attorney makes is because they believe the person is the best one for the job, not because they're getting paid. Remember, your attorney works for you and they go to great lengths to avoid conflicts-of-interest.
27/ This is now the longest thread I've ever done and I'm not sure if any of this has been useful to anyone at all, but hopefully it has.
28/ One additional point: this is my experience as a boostrapped founder. I've never raised money from VCs (and don't intend to). Presumably, your VCs will point you in the direction of an attorney with experience in that area. It's complex enough you'll want that experience.
