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What should one expect to pay for a lawyer to write a co-founders agreement?

What should one expect to pay for a lawyer to write a co-founders agreement?

I realize that it depends where and what one wants in the agreement but we can use a ball park figure to know what it costs.

Thanks

Answer 11918

I realize that it depends where and what one wants in the agreement but …

It really does depend on where and on what one wants in the agreement.

In some countries you can find a good lawyer who can get this stuff done for a hundred bucks, and in others (the US in particular) you’ll find that lawyers routinely charge hundreds of dollars per hour. At one extreme, you may find that the lawyer has a draft ready from prior work on the topic. At the other, a week turnaround to get a custom agreement drafted is not unheard of.

Pro-tip, though: a good rule to have in mind when working with lawyer is that their time is best used on a consultative basis. That is: ask the lawyer at the initial stage to know what is important in such an agreement. Then locate a template (there are plenty) and draft/amend the agreement yourself. Once done, involve the lawyer at the final stage, and have them review your draft so as to cross t’s and dot i’s. This will usually save you several hours or days worth of attorney fees. (Plus, it’ll spare you lawyer pissing contests over whether or not this or that needs an extra comma.)

Also: always understand what’s important to you when dealing with lawyers. It’s their job to protect you, so they’ll invariably highlight a gazillion potential issues on anything they review. Which is great and all, until you realize that you’re wasting a lot of time and sometimes introducing blockers. A good read that expands on this point:

https://steveblank.com/2010/05/27/why-lawyers-don’t-run-startups/

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