2 Offer to assist the attorney: There are excellent resources available to
help entrepreneurs acquaint themselves with legal matters. An entrepreneur
could help the attorney save time by writing the first few drafts of a
founders’ agreement or a contract or by helping gather the documents
needed to deal with a legal issue.
3 Ask your attorney to join your advisory board: Many start-ups form
advisory boards [discussed in Chapter 9). Advisory board members
typically serve as volunteers to help young firms get off to a good start. An
attorney serving on an advisory board becomes a coach and a confidant as
well as a paid service provider. However, entrepreneurs must be careful
not to give the impression that the attorney was asked to serve on the
advisory board as a way of getting free legal advice.
4 Use nonlawyer professionals: Nonlawyer professionals can perform
some tasks at a much lower fee than a lawyer would charge. Examples
include management consultants for business planning, tax preparation
services for tax work, and insurance agents for advice on insurance
planning.