Richmond Startup Attorneys & Lawyers

Why Hire a Startup Attorney?

When you start a new business, it pays to bring on the best experts you can afford. Whether those experts are visual designers, master chefs, or biologists depends on your industry, but there are two experts you always want on hand, lawyers and accountants.

An accountant can help you set your short and long-term budgets, craft an affordable business plan, and understand your tax obligations. A lawyer can help you organize your business, negotiate with your partners, and carve out a space for yourself using intellectual property laws.

However, you would normally have to contact several different lawyers or law firms to handle all those problems. That's why startup attorneys have started to appear. These top attorneys can tackle different jobs personally or through contacts of their own. That's because a startup lawyer has a lot of ground to cover:

• Business entity organization. Choosing your business type is a matter of ownership, convenience, industry standards, taxes, and lawsuit liability. A small business just starting out might have a single owner or a limited partnership, or it could go straight to a limited liability company or a corporation. A startup attorney can help you figure out which one is best and when you should switch business types.

• Contracts. Putting it all on paper is only the first step. It's important to be clear and precise when you write contracts. You should have someone who can negotiate for your side when you sign the contracts of others. A startup lawyer can do all that and help you understand contract law at the same time. They can help you work out contracts with your employees, your customers and clients, your distributors and suppliers, and even real estate owners.

• Intellectual property. Copyrights are relatively painless, but getting a registered trademark and a patent can be a long and expensive journey. To get through it, you need someone who can take you all the way to the goal. Just hiring a trademark lawyer improves your odds of a successful registration by 50 percent.

How to Find the Best Startup Attorneys in Richmond

Virginia's capital city isn't as big as the Washington suburbs to the north or the Hampton Roads sprawl to the south, but it has plenty to offer a startup. Major industries include biotech and drug research, finances, and advertising are located there, but there are lots of other fields as well. Gourmet restaurants are showing up, too, making Richmond a heaven for foodies.

Part of this is thanks to Richmond's great location along the James River, but it's also due to some very startup-friendly tax incentives created by Virginia and the city of Richmond. Help is never hard to find, either, thanks to another one of Richmond's specialties, the legal profession.

However, not all legal advice is good, and not everyone needs expensive legal protection. A cellphone startup has to deal with a lot of lawsuits and patent defenses, but a restaurant owner usually doesn't. So if you want the best startup attorney for your business, you'll need to do some research.

• Understand Your Approach

Do you go on the offensive or do you try to talk things out until the last minute? Would you rather play it safe and secure or do you want to take risks and put everything on the line for a big payout? A good startup law firm can help you switch things up occasionally, but they should also be comfortable with your favorite strategy.

• Stick with the Specialists

Not all startups are the same. Lawyers and firms can specialize in certain industries, which means they can put you in touch with the right clients and suppliers to get your business going. You can speak to other startups in your industry to find out which lawyers offer the best and fastest services.

• Understand Your Budget and Needs

Different industries have different legal woes. Some have to sign and create a lot of complicated contracts and defend their IP like a guard dog. Others can coast by on a few basic employment contracts and some friendly competition. If you know how much legal help your company will need, you'll know how much to budget for a startup lawyer.

Questions for a Startup Attorney

• Can you give me references for your service quality?

• What's the average experience level at your firm?

• How much do your startup services cost? How much do you charge for consultations and document preparation?

• Are you familiar with my industry? Do you have contacts I can use?

• How quickly should I expect you to respond when I have a legal problem?

• Can your firm deal with all my legal issues, directly or indirectly? If indirectly, whom else do you use?

A relationship with a startup attorney can last for as long as you own your company. Be careful which lawyer you hire, as careful as you are with every other major business decision.