×

Stay up to Date

Thoughts and leadership game changers from Merge Lane
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Mergelane Blog

Broadening the On-ramp for Women-run Companies

How to Choose the Best Lawyer for Your Startup

As an active angel investor and co-founder of the MergeLane accelerator, I am asked to recommend startup lawyers almost once a week. Many of these requests come from companies that have been working with a friend or family friend, or a reduced cost attorney. Those lawyers may not have specific experience counseling startups. This doesn’t always go well.

CC photo: slgckgc

There can be huge intellectual property, tax and financial implications for failing to set things up right from the startup start. Although most mistakes can be cleaned up later, it can be a huge hassle and a significant expense.

Before going any farther down the path, I would highly recommend finding a lawyer who:

  1. Has done a ton of startup financing deals. 
    There are nuances and market norms that can make or break financing deals, for example. Lawyers without startup experience often miss these. If you are applying to an accelerator, it is especially helpful if your lawyer has represented other accelerator participants.
  2. Is well-known and respected in the investor community. 
    This is important because if your investors know the lawyer or the firm you work with, they won’t feel like they have to double check every word in your documents. Respected lawyers also tend to produce high-quality work.
  3. You like and enjoy spending time with.
  4. Is responsive (within 48 hours) to your requests.
  5. Can grow with you. 
    Personally, I prefer to work with a firm rather than an individual because they can better manage spontaneous requests and absorb needs as you grow. As an entrepreneur and investor, I’ve found that you can never predict what startup life will throw at you. The law firm we’ve worked with has helped us with everything from IP to Hungarian immigration law.

Unfortunately, most of the lawyers that fit this bill are expensive on an hourly basis (i.e., $450 per hour or more). I think this is worth every penny. From my experience, choosing a good lawyer will cost much less in the long run and often in the short run as well. Good startup lawyers are far more efficient with their time. They have already done most everything you’ll need them to do (save perhaps the Hungarian immigration questions), ensuring you won’t pay for a learning curve.

Good luck finding a great legal fit.

Related Posts

When Passion Runs Out

I’ve spent most of my life learning how to turn off my passion for just long enough to eat and sleep. I’ve never had to learn how to turn it on. After a recent long stretch without that passion, here's my hypothesis as to why I think it is coming back.

Read more ➞

Episode 41: Living Off the Brink of Disaster

I tried for many years to maintain a jam-packed schedule with zero margin for error, but life never seems to fit into perfectly scheduled boxes. After a straw-that-broke-the-camel’s-back moment, I’m learning to live off of the brink of disaster.

Read more ➞

Episode 40: Avoiding Venture Capital Fund Administration Headaches

I've spent more time than necessary on our fund administration and reporting, in part because of some of the easily avoidable administrative mistakes I’ve made over my 10-year journey as a startup investor.

Read more ➞

Episode 39: When Anxiety Is Worse Than the Outcome

Over these past two months and throughout all of 2020, I've learned something that I want to record to make sure that I remember: My anxiety about the potential outcomes is almost always worse than the actual outcome.

Read more ➞

Stay up to date!

Sign up to receive updates on everything we are up to, including future events and the latest news.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form