Three Questions to Ask When Hiring an Attorney

Many of my friends, neighbors, and acquaintances ask me about how to find a good attorney in practice areas in which I do not practice (like family law, estate planning, and defense). The conversation typically turns into some form of referral to someone I know and trust and whom I believe can assist. I suspect many of you out there do the same thing, that is, ask a friend if they have a good lawyer to refer you to instead of searching blindly. But once you get the referral, how do you determine that the individual you were referred to is someone you can trust and work with?

Here are what I consider to be three of the most important questions an entrepreneur or startup can ask a lawyer during a first meeting:

1. What transactions do I need an attorney for? Some transactions are fairly straightforward and can be handled directly by you with no assistance from an attorney, or by establishing a process with the help of your attorney so that you can handle these repetitive tasks quickly, efficiently, and affordably. An example of this might be a sales agreement in which a customer has requested changes to certain terms in order to sign the deal. Find out what some of these types of transactions might be and if your attorney can help you establish such processes.

2. How can I contain legal costs? If the attorney you were referred to works with entrepreneurs and startups regularly, they will know that cost is of concern. They should be able to identify strategies that will minimize your legal spending while assisting you to put in place simple and sound risk management monitors. Such strategies may include putting in place processes whereby you can do at least some of the work yourself and send documents for your review to the attorney.

3. What form of alternative fee arrangements do you offer? Alternate fee arrangements, or AFAs, are new ways of billing that do not use the traditional billable hour. Such AFAs may include fixed project fees, monthly subscriptions, or contingency fees. Any lawyer that works with startups should not only be willing to explore working with you using an alternative fee method but also be willing to implement it and regularly use it. Read my article on alternative fee arrangements for more information.

Good luck!