When it comes to launching a startup business and hiring an attorney for startups, one thing that is certainly unavoidable is having to pay attorney fees, which can oftentimes be hefty. However, there are a few different ways to save money while, at the same time, ensuring that your business itself is still legally on the up-and-up. Here are three ways that you can save money on legal fees for your startup business.
Minimum Viable Legal ProtectionA vast majority of attorneys agree that startup business owners should never look into hiring an attorney who will charge them hundreds of dollars per hour for legal services. For tasks such as smaller deals and day-to-day contacts, you should instead consider alternatives such as automatic document assemblers and publicly available standard forms. Utilizing this kind of self-education will most definitely save you a great deal of money.
Alternative Fee ArrangementsMany lawyers still choose to bill their clients on a “per-hour” basis by default; however, thankfully, times are changing. Take a chance and speak to your attorney about alternative options, such as alternative fee arrangements for situations such as filing trademarks or tasks involving incorporation. These kinds of alternative arrangements will give your attorney an incentive to be efficient; however, you will also want to ensure that you aren’t waiving your rights to any kind of basic guarantee of good service or that you’re being sold other services that you really don’t need to take advantage of. Additionally, you could suggest paying your attorney in equity instead of cash; however, be advised that your attorney may not be open to this idea.
Outsourced General CounselIf your startup business is small in size, yet not small enough to avoid factors such as board of directors meetings, HR compliance, etc., then consider utilizing an outsourced general counsel. This means that essentially, you would have a part-time in-house attorney on retainer. There are many different firms who offer limited counsel services that are extremely flexible, only needing to work just a few short hours every week to take care of tasks that will save you a great deal of time. The best part of this is that you will know exactly how much their services will cost ahead of time.