Comments on: Why Start-up Lawyers Frustrate Me

By: Ben

Ben — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 06:31:43 +0000

There is another great legal resource for California based tech startups–it is a confidential legal question and answer service that is geared toward startups and tech companies and it just launched. It is a new way for startups and tech companies to find the right lawyers for their needs.

It allows companies to submit confidential legal questions to multiple lawyers simultaneously (all personally selected by the companies) on typical tech company issues such as IP, corporate, employment, etc. The answers companies receive will allow the companies to more effectively compare and evaluate lawyers before actually deciding to hire them. It is called Law Pivot (http://www.lawpivot.com).

By: Jason Mendelson

Jason Mendelson — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:39:05 +0000

Most of the valley folks have NYC offices including Cooley and Gunderson and will work with deferrals. If you need more, email me directly

By: club penguin cheats

club penguin cheats — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 08:20:52 +0000

I am working on a startup in NY and trying to find a decent venture lawyer who will work on a deferred compensation/equity basis. My friends out west are working with Wilson Sonsini using this structure.

By: MGCGroup

MGCGroup — Wed, 13 May 2009 01:30:15 +0000

Jason,

I believe that these frustrations are because you go to firms with model that is poorly suited to start ups. Why would you expect 500 or 1000 lawyer firms like WSGR or Cooley to be efficient at servicing small companies?

If you want swift and efficient execution, go to a smaller, more cost effective firm. Really, we can do you a fine job, much more effectively. You wanna be frustrated? Go to the big names where the associates have outlandish rates with the partners use to support seven figure incomes.

Mike

By: MGCGroup

MGCGroup — Wed, 13 May 2009 01:29:56 +0000

Jason,

By: George_Grellas

George_Grellas — Tue, 05 May 2009 23:34:57 +0000

I have represented early-stage founders and their companies for over two decades in Silicon Valley. I tell them that a “vanilla” Series A funding can easily be done for $10K or so but to forget about it if the funding comes from VCs – in that case, plan to spend $35K for the VC’s legal bill and a like amount for the company’s, and that is just a baseline. I think the problem lies in part with venture lawyer billing structures (a surreal world if ever there was one) but it lies equally with the VCs themselves, who insist on giving a free hand to the very firms that will grind the process in just the manner you describe (i.e., using low-level associates, now being billed at $500/hr+, to do the document reviews, often in teams and invariably with a lot of pressure on them to put up high billables to justify their large salaries). The entrepreneurs themselves will increasingly demand billing caps, write-downs to reflect reality, and the like – I see nothing comparable coming from the VCs themselves. Perhaps the current economic meltdown will help change things, but I am not holding my breath.

By: Jason Mendelson

Jason Mendelson — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 00:06:04 +0000

Email me at jason at foundrygroup.com and I’ll tell you

By: Gabriel

Gabriel — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 00:03:11 +0000

Thanks for the quick response. I'm not looking for a particular lawyer per se, but it would be very helpful to know which firms will even work on a deferred comp/equity basis.

By: Jason Mendelson

Jason Mendelson — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 23:33:03 +0000

I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to single out any particular lawyer for recommendation. Make sure that whomever you use gives you cost estimates upfront and also agrees to attend your board meetings for free.

By: Gabriel

Gabriel — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 23:26:38 +0000

Nice post. I am working on a startup in NY and trying to find a decent venture lawyer who will work on a deferred compensation/equity basis. My friends out west are working with Wilson Sonsini using this structure. Can you make any referrals? thanks, gb