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Discussing Rates, Staffing and Overall Fees with Your Attorney
Attorney billing rates generally vary from $200 to $1,000 dollars per hour depending on location, complexity of the work, and the time and resources needed to complete the work. In addition, law firms are known for often charging different rates to different clients. Your funding (bootstrapped, seed or VC) may strongly influence the capabilities and cost of the counsel you hire. Discuss billing rates, deferred billing, alternative billing and retainer fees as applicable during your initial consultation. Utilize billing rate surveys and talk to a few firms. In the present economic climate, many firms may be willing to lower their rates in order to work with your startup. You may also save money by finding a partner at a small firm with prior big firm experience who is now charging a much lower billing rate.
Other Ways to Keep Fees Down
Project staffing can limit casework to lower billers such as junior attorneys and paralegals. Keep in mind that a lower rate does not always result in savings. An inexperienced lawyer could take twice as long to work on a project as a lawyer with extensive experience. Other options for savings include reducing the formal reports prepared by your attorney and receiving information in an informal manner (conferences, bullet point lists, etc.). Also, you may be able to reduce the time counsel spends drafting certain documents or charts by collecting basic records or information from counsel and preparing some documents yourself. We will discuss costs (expenses), legal fee billing guidelines and billing entries in future posts.
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