Comments on: Should I give my lawyers equity? http://venturehacks.com/articles/lawyer-equity Good advice for startups. Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:12:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Jonathan http://venturehacks.com/articles/lawyer-equity/comment-page-1#comment-557 Jonathan Mon, 31 Dec 2007 16:55:37 +0000 http://venturehacks.com/articles/lawyer-equity#comment-557 Our corp lawyers ( a top 5 silicon valley firm ) don't ask for equity - they get right-of-first-refusal on all financing transactions (and at a slightly higher billing rate) until we're a regular customer. A lot of firms won't do equity because it creates a conflict of interest; some set up weird holding companies on the side, but its still considered ethically questionable. The conflict of interest isn't just on VC firms, but also on potential acquirers or licensees. Because of various conflicts in different legal areas, we have 5 firms representing us - and different arrangements with each. That said- any law firm that works for free/equity isn't giving you their full attention, and you should be wary of that. Not surprisingly, their responsiveness is tied to how much money they get from us up front. If you want emails answered within hours not days, and more phone time - you're going to have to pay. Our corp lawyers ( a top 5 silicon valley firm ) don’t ask for equity – they get right-of-first-refusal on all financing transactions (and at a slightly higher billing rate) until we’re a regular customer.

A lot of firms won’t do equity because it creates a conflict of interest; some set up weird holding companies on the side, but its still considered ethically questionable. The conflict of interest isn’t just on VC firms, but also on potential acquirers or licensees. Because of various conflicts in different legal areas, we have 5 firms representing us – and different arrangements with each.

That said- any law firm that works for free/equity isn’t giving you their full attention, and you should be wary of that. Not surprisingly, their responsiveness is tied to how much money they get from us up front. If you want emails answered within hours not days, and more phone time – you’re going to have to pay.

]]>