No need to go it alone. |
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Frequently Asked Questions
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1. We have 50 combined years of experience, including 25 years of experience working with entrepreneurs at two of the largest law firms in the United States.
2. We offer numerous flat fee and alternative billing options, including flexible payment terms at rates substantially lower than big law firms.
3. We use the same technologies that you do in order to stay efficient, accessible and affordable including Docusign, Skype and Dropbox.
4. We are entrepreneurs too and understand the need to be nimble and have responsive business partners.
5. Every client of our firm gets a free 1-hour annual "checkup" meeting to stay up-to-date on your company and to discuss what might be "ailing" your business. -
Not at all. While many of our clients are startups or early-stage companies, we have and can represent more "mature" companies and have represented a number of clients who have gone from the startup stage through the "growth and funding" stage and finally on to a successful exit.
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We do not act as broker-dealers in any securities offering. However, we will always make introductions to potential angels, VCs or other advisers or strategic partners that we know if your business fits within their investment parameters and experience. Our goal is to help your business grow, and making introductions and business connections among our clients and other professional contacts helps that occur faster.
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In order to officially become a client of the Startup Legal Group, we need to execute a written engagement letter with you. If there are any adverse parties involved in your legal matter, we will need to find out the names of those parties before we can meet with you or discuss your matter in order to run an internal conflict check to ensure there are no legal conflicts with us representing you. If there is a conflict, the affected parties will need to sign a formal conflict waiver before we can represent you.
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We've seen many clients who have used an incorporation service to start their business, but have had to completely redo their organizational documents when bringing in a partner or investor. As the saying goes, “you get what you pay for.” While they did have an "official" legal entity, most likely they didn't get the proper advice they needed for their particular situation. Incorporation services make very clear that they are not law firms and do not provide legal advice. That's why you need a highly experienced corporate and business lawyer . . . a trusted adviser who will strategize with you and help you think through key business matters and complex legal issues . . . basically, you need a "Partner-in-Law" like the Startup Legal Group.
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The main reason for this is one word: overhead. Large law firms have significant overhead costs that can only be covered through higher billing rates. Many national firms have attorneys billing at rates approaching $1,000 per hour and first-year associates billing over $300 per hour to help cover things like expensive office space, multiple offices, large support staffs, etc. At the Startup Legal Group, we have the same "sophisticated" startup and corporate experience of traditional big law firms but have eliminated many of the huge overhead costs of traditional firms. So, that means we can pass those cost savings directly on to our clients in the form of lower billing rates and lower fixed fee projects. In the end, most clients just want to pay for a lawyer's experience, knowledge and expertise . . . not for their fancy offices.
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In most cases, we will be able to provide a fixed or flat fee quote for your project so that, no matter how long it takes, you only pay one fee. During our initial free 1-hour consultation, we will discuss your project in detail to get as much information as possible to determine if a flat-fee arrangement would be appropriate. For certain more complex or fact-specific matters, we may need to use the more traditional billable hour structure. In that case, we will give you a clear up-front estimate of the anticipated total fees for the project and we will do our very best to meet that estimate. If any facts or circumstances change that could cause a change in our estimate, we will let you know asap. Open and timely communication with our clients is a key to being a successful "Partner-in-Law". Regardless of the billing arrangement you choose, our highest priority is to ensure you are satisfied with our services.
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Once we have all of the relevant information from you, the Basic Startup Package can usually be completed in 1-2 business days. In most cases, we will be able to complete the Premium and Platinum Startup Package documents in just 3-4 business days once we have all of the necessary information. However, that doesn't mean the documents in our Startup Packages are cookie-cutter or "one size fits all" agreements. Our goal is to spend as much time with you as is necessary to fully understand your business to ensure that your new legal entity and all of your organizational documents and other key business documents fit your specific goals and needs. If we think it will take longer to complete your Startup Package documents, we will let you know the anticipated timeline and any additional costs upfront so there are no surprises.
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Basically, you can use that time for any other legal services that we provide. If you need more specialized or custom drafting of the documents in our Startup Package, you can also use the time for that. Bottom line is that we want our clients to not worry about picking up the phone to ask questions for fear of getting another legal bill . . . especially in the very early stages of their business when small mistakes can later turn into BIG problems. The additional attorney time is provided as part of our Platinum Startup Package to give you a little "cushion" so you have the comfort in knowing you can get your basic legal questions answered without worrying about another bill from your law firm. That's just another reason why we are your "Partner-in-Law"!
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Yes! We greatly appreciate the sacrifice that our military personnel and other first responders (i.e., police and firefighters) make to serve this great country of ours. If you are a current service member or an "Honorably Discharged" veteran of any of our Armed Forces divisions or an active "first responder" and need legal help in starting a new business, we will discount our Startup Package rates by 25%. It's our small way of saying "thanks" to those brave and honorable individuals who serve our great country.
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Absolutely! Even if you've already formed your company and have organizational documents in place, we will review your existing documents to see if they cover your needs. If they look OK, we'll tell you. If not, we'll suggest the Startup Package that best fits your needs and get your company set up with the right documents and protections. If your current legal documents are too complex (or messed up) to fit within one of the Startup Packages, we will let you know and will create and agree upon a budget and anticipated timeline to get things fixed so there are no surprises.