Getty Images
What kind of lawyer do I need for my startup? originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
Answer by Raad Ahmed, Founder of LawTrades.com, on Quora:
Consider these factors when you speak with startup attorneys:
1. Experience: You are going to want to find a lawyer who is well versed in the fields you need assistance with. You should look for lawyers who are business minded and have an in-depth understanding of transactional law, securities, intellectual property, and business development. The attorneys on our site have an average of 10+ years experience, so finding a seasoned attorney in any particular field is not a difficult task.
2. Professional Chemistry: It is one of the most important aspects of finding the best lawyer for your needs. Particularly in the startup context, clients will have to work closely with their lawyers on a regular basis and will rely on these lawyers to ensure the well-being of their company in the early stages. You must not only feel comfortable with your lawyer, but also like working with your lawyer and have compatible personalities.
3. Attorney's Fees: Money, and the preservation of it, is extremely important to startups, thus it only makes sense that an attorneys’ price is part of the decision making. Nowadays, there are options aside from the scary hourly billing which has plagued the legal industry for decades. Now, many startup attorneys offer affordable flat-fees to make hiring a lawyer more feasible for growing companies. Of course, if you turn to a traditional law firm, it will be more difficult to find this type of transparent payment method. Legal services and marketplaces such as ours at LawTrades offer the services of solo practitioners at clear flat-fees.
4. Reputation: You want a lawyer that has done well in the past for clients in your similar situation. As a client, you want to have some security before agreeing to hire a lawyer. Transparency is the key to feeling confident that your lawyer is well-equipped and competent to handle your legal matters. You can browse through each lawyer's verified client reviews to see the previous work this attorney has done, whether their clients were satisfied with their services, and their legal successes and shortcomings in the past.
Overall, you should be able to find a startup lawyer very quickly, but it’s a matter of finding the right one.
This question originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. More questions: