

Ask HN: Role of a Law partner - AlfredCat

I'm a college student with programming experience and I'm interested in making start up with another dedicated friend as a co-founder. The thing is that this person has a law background and we had heard from a law adviser that real lawyers never actually become a part of a start up. Instead what people mean by a law partner is someone who deals with the lawyers. This adviser said that instead the better choice for a co-founder is to be a business oriented person. Honestly neither of us were too certain about this advice and we are still both going ahead with our plans to start a company, since we are both very enthusiastic about start ups. However we did want to know what the real role of a Law partner is in a start up and if there was any truth in the advice we got?<p>Thanks for the help in advance.
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jaredhansen
I've been a lawyer, and now I'm a startup founder. Sometimes I think I should
have skipped the lawyer part; other times, not so sure.

I've never heard of a "law partner" (which doesn't mean there is no such
term), but I don't think almost any startup needs a cofounder with a legal
background. That's not to say, though, that you shouldn't start something with
your friend -- if he's smart, if he has hustle, if he can pick up the business
end while you do the coding (or vice versa, or whatever), then it's fine.

Look at it this way: your friend's legal background is unlikely to help your
startup very much, because if/when you start to get serious you're going to
need more legal firepower, even for pretty mundane stuff, than just one guy
can provide. But it isn't going to hurt you, either.

The question is really about whether the two of you are a good fit for one
another, sufficiently passionate about building this thing, and sufficiently
skilled to be able to do it. Good luck.

