

Ask HN: Does your lawyer attend your Board meetings? - jack7890

Our attorney is offering to come for free (it's standard for the firm to offer that for startups).  Would love to hear if other companies have their attorney attend.  If so, is it helpful?
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jacquesm
I find that having people present that are not in any capacity directly
involved with the day-to-day goings on tends to drag meetings out. I prefer to
have them short and sweet, it's hard enough to have a meeting with more than 3
people present having a person there asking questions without the required
background. People will start weighing their words in the presence of a
lawyer.

When I need a lawyer I'll select one specifically based on their track record
in that particular field.

Even if he's doing it 'for free' if there is legal work to flow out from that
(and everybody will defer to the lawyer because of his great expertise) then
you'll end up paying for it anyway. Smart marketing on their part.

You need a lawyer when:

\- you're incorporating

\- you make a major move (investment, layoffs, policy changes, exits, buyouts)

\- when suing or being sued

Outside of that they're like a 5th wheel on a car.

Also, when I go to see a lawyer I make sure that I'm completely prepared, have
a basic brief + all supporting documents. This will help a lot in keeping
their hours down (and it really adds up, a simple out-of-court settlement will
still cost you between 5 and 10 thousand bucks, going to court can easily go
in to the 10's of thousands, especially when there are appeals).

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andrewljohnson
For us, our lawyer is an advisor, and he's a lawyer who only works with
startups, so we like to hear what he has to say. We include him on board
emails, meetings, etc.

However, we gave him some equity and his participation is otherwise free in
this regard. We certainly couldn't pay someone hundreds of dollars an hour to
give us advice right now.

~~~
ScottWhigham
Has your attorney been an investor or successful business person other than
just being an attorney? Whilst being an attorney can often give you great
perspective and great vicarious experience, that doesn't necessarily translate
to real-world experience as an entrepreneur. There are parables about
listening to attorneys who offer business advice, you know...

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erickherring
At my last startup, our counsel was also the corporate secretary. It worked
out well and let us get all board-related legal work done for a set fee.

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vicaya
This is a common practice for corporations, where you need to keep the meeting
minutes as part of legal requirements of being a corp (c or s). You (as a
Secretary of the corporation) can do it yourself or you can let them do it for
you for free. Most people would choose latter.

~~~
ScottWhigham
I would say it is common practice for large corporations but is it really that
way for small startups? That hasn't been my experience; generally there aren't
any attorneys at a small startup's board meeting unless the attorney is a
member of the board.

