I understand that working with a lawyer on a monthly legal plan instead of a traditional retainer with hourly billing might be confusing at first. The purpose of this article is to illustrate the benefits of having 24/7 access to legal assistance and the importance of having a part-time in-house counsel for your startup or small business.
How Does a Subscription Legal Plan Work?
You have the option to choose from several monthly legal plans that best suit your company's current stage and monthly requirements. If you are a new startup, I suggest the Startup & Go Plan. For established companies, the Standard Plan is probably more suitable. Every package comes with its own benefits and discounts on services ranging from personalized agreements to trademark registrations to decreased billable hours. My aim is to offer all services at a pre-approved flat fee rate and reduce the need to charge by the hour.
Here are some of the benefits of having a subscription legal plan:
Special members-only promotion code: As a member, you receive a special members-only promotion code that entitles you to a 50% discount on all of our custom legal documents and services. For example, a new company formation package is $500 (as of June 1, 2024) instead of the non-member rate of $1,000.
Access to template document library: Access to our template document library is free of charge per template. You can receive a template at any time through a request on your Slack channel. You can also use your member promo code to order a custom draft of each document or agreement at 50% off non-member rates.
24/7 Slack Access: Feel free to contact me at any time without charge through your exclusive Slack channel only available for members. This allows you to inquire with your lawyer without concerns about fees. Response times differ depending on the day of the week and generally fall within a 1-24 hour timeframe.
Reduced hourly billable rates: As of June 1, 2024, our firm's hourly rates are offered at a discounted rate of $100 off for members compared to non-members. If you need to utilize additional billable hours, you have the potential to save thousands of dollars annually in comparison to non-members.
Priority delivery: Members are afforded quicker turnaround time on projects in queue and given priority on expedited turnaround times.
Personalized advice and counsel: Monthly meetings allow us to build a relationship with you to better understand how to help you and assist your business as it grows.
How Do Flat Fees Work?
To further minimize the necessity for billable hours, flat fees for legal work are a great option. You will always know how much your legal work will cost upfront and you only pay for what you need.
I have developed a convenient method for purchasing additional services or products directly from the website at a discounted rate of up to 50% for members. Simply browse through the offerings at https://www.startuptechlaw.com/category/all-products where you can choose anything from a privacy policy to a trademark registration. During checkout, apply your promo code, and I will contact you via Slack to discuss timelines, specifications, and delivery details.
For example, if you are a Startup & Go plan member who requires a new advisor agreement, you can simply click the link to order our Advisor Agreement. At checkout, enter your member promo code and get 50% off. A message will be sent to you on Slack confirming the order, and we will review your requirements and provide a delivery date, which is typically within one week or less. We simplify things for you, ensuring that you always have control over your legal expenses!
Do Billable Hours Still Apply?
Well, yes and no. I hope to rarely charge by the hour, but there are some cases where it is unavoidable. Each package includes either one hour or two hours that can be used for consultations or billable hours. You can use this time to set up your monthly Zoom calls to review where things are, what is coming up, and get advice on how to move your organization forward. This also keeps me better informed to help you prevent legal pitfalls and hopefully make better decisions early on to prevent mistakes that could cost thousands of dollars later. These meetings are also an opportunity to provide you with general startup advice, founder-to-founder coaching, marketing strategy, investor preparation, pitch deck reviews, and anything you have concerns about with regard to your company. Of course, you also have the option to continue communicating through Slack and dedicate the allocated time to legal tasks.
Billable hours remain valuable for situations where extra legal support is necessary and cannot be charged at a fixed rate. Below are typical scenarios where billable hours are essential:
You have used up your monthly hour(s): In the event that you have used up your allotted monthly time and wish to have additional meeting time, we can move forward on an hourly basis.
Custom contract draft revisions: For example, we provide you with a custom draft agreement, but it may require modifications prior to execution or even a complete revision based on unforeseen changes. This would require us to spend a few billable hours in meetings and drafting time to make the necessary changes.
Investor meetings: You may want us to join meetings with investors onsite or virtually. Additional meeting time may run one hour or even an entire afternoon. As it is unpredictable to determine, we will need to charge an hourly billable rate for the total time.
Matters not covered by flat-fee: If there are any matters that you wish to have us provide that are not covered by our flat-fee pricing, we can provide you with an estimated upfront charge and bill you hourly for such time required. An example of this could be responding to the USPTO on trademark actions, working with your vendor's in-house attorney to finalize a contract, or meeting with you and potential new advisors or co-founders.
Choosing one of our legal plans will provide you with expert legal guidance, reduced costs, and peace of mind as you navigate the legal matters of your startup. Click the link to explore our legal plans and get started today: Legal Plans.
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