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Legal Services Buyer’s Guide

CONTENTS

What do legal services cover? What do online legal services offer? Do-It-All Services: Legal Forms, Filings & Consultations Do-It-Yourself Services: Documents & Guidelines Incorporation Services Find-a-Lawyer Services On-Demand Legal Consultations A Law Firm or Independent Attorney

In the course of setting up or running a business, it’s virtually inevitable that you will need legal advice. In this guide, we’ll cover what you need to know when hiring an attorney as well as different ways to get legal help.

Appendix Definitions

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Legal Services Buyer’s Guide

CONTENTS

What do legal services cover?

There are many times when businesses tend to engage attorneys.

What do online legal services offer? Do-It-All Services: Legal Forms, Filings & Consultations Do-It-Yourself Services: Documents & Guidelines Incorporation Services Find-a-Lawyer Services On-Demand Legal Consultations A Law Firm or Independent Attorney

Incorporating What’s the best legal structure for your business? Contracts & agreements Do you have airtight legal documents? Managing people Are you complying with employment requirements? Protecting IP & data How do ensure your proprietary data is secure? Tax structure Are you paying the taxes required of your business?

Appendix Definitions

Operations Is your growing business streamlined and compliant? Shareholders’ agreements Is the ownership and valuation of your business clear? Litigation Are you represented to best protect your interests?

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Legal Services Buyer’s Guide

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What do online legal services cover?

What do legal services cover?

• Expert information and guidelines, including legal requirements for businesses

• Access to DIY legal document templates, including contracts & operation documents • Completion, review, and filing of legal documents by legal professionals • Personal consultations with lawyers at a more affordable rate than traditional firms • A marketplace for finding the right lawyer for a business’s specific legal needs

What are some reliable sources for online legal sources? There’s been a boom in online legal services for businesses over the last few years. These services are a fast and convenient way to get you started — incorporating, setting up a DBA and making sure you’re compliant —and they can also save you time and money on the groundwork when you do seek out attorney advice on things like contracts, partnership agreements and intellectual property. And using an online service can be a great way to find that lawyer who ends up being your go-to for years. Most businesses will benefit from building this kind of relationship with a local business attorney.

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Legal Services Buyer’s Guide

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Do-It-All Services: Legal Forms, Filings & Consultations Overview LegalZoom is one of the oldest players in the online legal services game, having served over 3 million customers since it was founded in 1999. It offers three main types of services for small businesses: 1) legal forms and filings, completed and submitted through LegalZoom (this is the primary service), 2) do-ityourself legal forms and 3) one-on-one consultations with attorneys for a flat monthly fee. LegalZoom covers a very broad set of legal issues. While its services undoubtedly save time and money in some areas (like incorporating a business), it can quickly become a pricier option than its competitors because of aggressive upselling on the site. For example, while filing to form an LLC, users are hit with the option to buy everything from a business compliance package ($280) to an EIN ($79) to a business domain name (prices vary). These are useful services, but it makes the process of completing the LLC forms complicated and a bit overwhelming, as it’s not always clear which additional services are important (like filling your state LLC paperwork) and which are optional. A good rule of thumb for LegalZoom: It’s a good idea to be clear on what you need going in so you don’t find yourself paying high annual fees for unnecessary services.

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How LegalZoom works Legal forms: If you’ve already formed your business and you’re just looking for templates of things like non-disclosure agreements, employment contracts and copyright notices, Legal Zoom has a document library where you can download and customize forms created by attorneys. Documents are $5.95–$14.95 each or $7.99/ month for unlimited access. Filings: In many cases, LegalZoom won’t just provide the appropriate documents—they’ll also complete the filing for you. The most popular services include: forming an LLC, which starts at $149 (not including additional filing fees); getting an Employment Identification Number, which costs $79; maintaining an annual compliance plan, which costs $280; and trademark registration, which starts at $199. Consultation: If you have a more complex issue or need legal advice tailored to your situation, they also offer one-on-one legal consultations (for a flat monthly fee): • Business Advisory Plan ($31.25/a month for a year): This pre-paid plan offers year-round legal help from an attorney in your state available for one-off or regular consultations. • Legal Advantage Plus ($9.99/month for a year): Or, you can get a pre-paid plan offering unlimited 30-minute consultations with a qualified attorney on new legal matters. They have an attorney directory with profiles that include schooling, experience and reviews, so you can cross-reference against a broader online search.

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Legal Services Buyerâ€™s Guide

Overview

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Rocket Lawyer, founded in 2008, seems to be a response to LegalZoom. It also offers three main types of services for small businesses: 1) create, customize, and sign legal documents online (they primary service); 2) ask a question to an on-call lawyer online; and 3) incorporate and file formation documents for your new business (far less of a focus than it is for LegalZoom). The primary difference is that Rocket Lawyer is mostly subscription based, granting unlimited access to its resources for a monthly fee. Rocket Lawyer offers more self-service options compared to LegalZoom, giving cash-strapped business owners more options and insights into filing legal paperwork on their own. While this leaves more of the onus on the business owner to file correctly and on time, Rocket Lawyer does still have attorney consultations available as part of its service (although not as in-depth as LegalZoomâ€™s). It also has fewer opportunities to try and upsell users, partly because most of its services are included (and unlimited) as part of its membership fee. If your small business is likely to have straightforward ongoing legal needs, the price is definitely right.

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Legal Services Buyerâ€™s Guide

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How Rocket Lawyer works Legal forms: Rocket Lawyer is primarily a self-service site featuring attorney-created and reviewed legal forms and documents which you can customize and email for secure signature online. Your first legal form is free. Additional forms are $20 each, or unlimited as part of a flat monthly membership fee ($39.95 or $49.95) Filings: If youâ€™re incorporating a new business, you have two options. You can either download the Articles of Incorporation by state and file yourself, or you can pay to have Rocket Lawyer help you fill out and file the Articles of Incorporation online. Forming an LLC starts at $90, not including additional filing fees (the processing fees are $99.95 and the cost of a registered agent is $149.95). The processing fees and registered agent fees are waived for monthly members on the Accelerate Plan, $49.95/month. Getting an Employment Identification Number through Rocket Lawyer costs $60, and a DBA filing starts at $99. Consultation: If you have a more specific legal issue or question, Rocket Lawyer also offers its Ask a Lawyer service, where users can ask a question to an on-call attorney who specializes in that area and get a response within minutes. They have an attorney directory with profiles that include schooling, experience and reviews, so you can cross-reference against a broader online search. The Ask a Lawyer feature is only available to Rocket Lawyer members, although you can ask questions for free through their one-week free trial.

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Legal Services Buyer’s Guide

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What do legal services cover?

Do-It-Yourself Services: Documents & Guidelines

What do online legal services offer?

Overview Nolo was founded in 1971 as a publisher of do-it-yourself legal books and guides. Over the years it’s expanded to create a suite of DIY legal software, online documents and a lawyer directory. Its bestselling business products include an online trademark application and an online guide to filing an LLC application.

Do-It-All Services: Legal Forms, Filings & Consultations Do-It-Yourself Services: Documents & Guidelines Incorporation Services Find-a-Lawyer Services On-Demand Legal Consultations A Law Firm or Independent Attorney Appendix Definitions

At first, Nolo may seem to lack some of the breadth and bells and whistles that you see with competitors. Perhaps its biggest flaw is the format of the site, which doesn’t walk you through processes and questions but requires you to already know what you’re looking for. It makes up for these shortcomings with its longstanding history and tried-and-true, easy-to-follow documents and guides that have been positively reviewed by media outlets and customers for over 40 years. Like all the other sites, Nolo isn’t a substitute for an attorney. It’s a reliable tool for the basics (setting up an LLC, drafting standard contracts), but you may want to consider forming a more long-term relationship with a lawyer near you.

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How Nolo works

What do legal services cover?

Legal forms: Nolo’s huge catalog of customizable legal forms are available for download at a fee ranging from about $15-$35 each.

Legal guides & filings: Nolo’s more detailed legal guides, which walk you through the full process of a filing, are competitive with other sites. Forming an LLC ranges in price from $99-$299, but includes far more benefits in its premium option than the higher-end LegalZoom. Similarly, filing an online trademark application starts at $139.00. It has also partnered with Quicken to create its Quicken Legal Business Pro software for $44.99. Lawyer directory: Nolo also has a lawyer directory organized by topic and state. The site asks for some basic information about your business and your legal needs, then matches you with a legal attorney to give you a free evaluation. After that, it’s up to you whether you want to hire the lawyer on your own.

Appendix Definitions

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Legal Services Buyer’s Guide

Overview

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Docracy is an open collection of free online legal documents, as well as a platform for negotiating and signing documents online. The documents are shared, rated and curated by the community of users, including lawyers, organizations and business owners.

Lawyers can use Docracy to find documents from their peers and manage the signing of documents online, which means it is possible to find forms from reputable law firms. That being said, lawyers typically customize forms to meet a specific business’s needs or local regulations. So anyone using Docracy should use caution and keep in mind that documents may carry specific organizational biases or state requirements with them. Docracy doesn’t offer any ongoing attorney support or services to help you answer questions or address issues. As with all these services, access to free documents is a tool that can save time and money, but it cannot replace a lawyer.

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How Docracy works Legal forms: Legal forms are created and uploaded by members of the Docracy community, who are required to create a profile so you can trust the source of the document. As a user, you can search through the Docracy library based on your area of concern (small business, freelancer, etc.). Based on the profile, the number of people who have used a form, and user comments, you can determine which form is best for you—and then download it and customize it for free. Docracy also offers Super Signing, which lets you invite your parties to view changes and sign it online.

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Legal Services Buyer’s Guide

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Incorporation services

What do legal services cover?

If you’re just looking to incorporate, there are several online services that basically take the moneymaker of sites like LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer—that is, LLC filing and business formation—and break it out into a separate website. Two examples of this are Incorporate.com (incorporation filings start at $99, but increase all the way up to $699), and SwyftFilings, which has a slightly wider scope of business formation services, including forming an LLC, vary in price from $49 + state fees to $299 + state fees. But it’s unclear what these offer that the better known services don’t.

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Legal Services Buyer’s Guide

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Find-a-Lawyer Services

Overview UpCounsel is an online service that makes it easier for businesses to find and hire legal help for the long-term based on their needs, location and preferences. It’s founded on the idea that law firms charge their clients 60% in overhead costs. By providing lawyers with an online platform that eliminates their need for a physical office, they can charge lower, more transparent rates to a broader range of clients. (UpCounsel does require lawyers to apply to be on their platform. They say only 5% of lawyer applications are accepted and that their attorneys have an average of 14 years of experience). Based on the website, UpCounsel seems to focus on enterprise clients, including large legal departments, executives, and HR departments. But it does have a wide range of startup clients, although it may not be the most affordable option for sole proprietors.

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How UpCounsel works You post a job based on your location, area of need and specific issues/questions. Next, based on UpCounsel’s algorithm, you get proposals back from lawyers who seem to best match your needs. Then it’s up to you to review the proposals, schedule free consultations and hire a lawyer at the rate you specified up front.

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Legal Services Buyer’s Guide

Overview

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Priori Legal matches business users with lawyers through a combination of proprietary software and hand curation by project managers, which is how they set themselves apart from services like UpCounsel. As with UpCounsel, they tout themselves as a way for attorneys at small firms to connect with more clients and reduce overhead.

Priori Legal also places high value on its network of lawyers. They boast that lawyers on their platform must apply online, interview in person, have client and attorney reference checks and maintain a 95% approval rating (only 20% of lawyers are accepted). But what really makes this different from other high-quality and high-value legal services is their focus on the user experience. They offer a range of pricing options—hourly, flat-rate, capped rate, contingency and subscription—making them a real option for everyone from entrepreneurs to enterprise.

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How Priori Legal works Like with UpCounsel, you start by filling out a form describing your legal preferences, including pricing needs (hourly, flat-rate, capped rate, contingency, or subscription). Then Priori Legal’s project managers select a list of vetted lawyers for you using their proprietary software. You review the profiles and pricing information, engage in free consultations, then hire.

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What do legal services cover? What do online legal services offer? Do-It-All Services: Legal Forms, Filings & Consultations

On-Demand Legal Consultations If building a long-term relationship with an attorney isn’t affordable or even necessary for your business, then on-demand legal consultations might be for you. For a fixed price, you can talk with business attorneys who specialize in your areas of interest on an as-needed basis.

Do-It-Yourself Services: Documents & Guidelines Incorporation Services Find-a-Lawyer Services On-Demand Legal Consultations A Law Firm or Independent Attorney Appendix Definitions

Overview The concept for Avvo is simple. Avvo lets you get 15 minutes of legal advice from an attorney for $39 within minutes. To use it, you either select your area of interest (business, employment, etc.) or search the directory to find a local attorney. Then, you create a profile, pay the fixed fee online, and an attorney calls you within 15 minutes. Calls are limited to 15 minutes, which means if you need more time, you have to go online and book an additional session. But it is possible to select the same attorney each time. While it’s difficult to get in-depth legal advice in just 15 minutes, this type of service is ideal for business owners with specific questions around incorporation, taxes, contracts, IP, and other common legal issues that can be difficult to answer using a selfservice tool that doesn’t grasp your situation or needs.

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Legal Services Buyer’s Guide

Overview

CONTENTS

LawTrades is an on-demand service, but it’s a platform that helps you hire an attorney to work directly with your business. You can chat with a legal project manager at LawTrades 24/7 to find an attorney, and you can even book a free 20-minute consultation with a LawTrades attorney before you decide to hire. So how does it work?

Once you’ve determined what you’re looking for (i.e. an attorney specializing in IP), then you name your price based on what you can pay (you can also get a quote for how much your requested services typically cost). Then, an algorithm selects a list of relevant lawyers who match your needs and are available immediately. You can review their profiles—their specialization, schooling, past work experience—and select who seems like the best fit. Before you hire, the lawyer will submit a proposal for your review, and you can even schedule a free consultation. Once you’ve hired, you’re assigned a LawTrades project manager to handle any potential issues that arise. Your card is only billed for the price you named up front after you’ve approved final delivery of services. This is more of a concierge service that offers highly-skilled legal advice to businesses at an affordable price by reducing overhead costs for attorneys. If your business is dealing with complex legal issues but you don’t know where to begin in terms of finding the right attorney, then LawTrades is a good option for you.

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Legal Services Buyer’s Guide

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A Law Firm or Independent Attorney

What do legal services cover?

While today there are many different ways to get legal help, for most businesses it will make sense to build a relationship with a local business attorney. Having a relationship with someone you know and trust is important. Additionally their local relationships and familiarity with local laws can be a plus.

The best way to do this is word of mouth. What lawyers or firms do other business in your industry and region use? This can also be a good way of ensuring you’re paying a fair rate. If you don’t have any leads, you can always turn to the web and beyond to do some research: Yelp, Lawyers.com, FindLaw, Google, the American Bar Association, and your local SBA office are all great tools for finding and cross-referencing attorneys. Depending on the size of your business, where you live, and what your business needs are, you can expect to pay anywhere from $100-$500/hour for small business services. To make sure you’re hiring the right attorney, get answers to some basic questions: • How much experience do they have in your industry? • Will you be working with that lawyer directly, or with associates? • What is typically their approach to resolving conflicts? • What is their rate and how often will they be billing? • How do they communicate with clients and what is their response time? Pay attention to their communication style. One of the best traits of the best attorneys is their ability to simplify legalese and communicate your options clearly.

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Appendix Definitions

What do legal services cover?

Articles of incorporation A document by which a corporation is formed that sets forth basic information (such as the corporation’s name, purpose, directors, and stock) usually as required by statute. NOTE: In most states, a corporation is created upon the filing of the articles of incorporation with the state’s secretary of state.

Intellectual property Property that derives from the work of the mind or intellect An idea, invention, trade secret, process, program, data, formula, patent, copyright, or trademark or application, right, or registration relating thereto Limited liability company (LLC) An unincorporated company formed under applicable state statute whose members cannot be held liable for the acts, debts, or obligations of the company and that may elect to be taxed as a partnership Shareholders’ agreement An agreement between all of the shareholders about how the company should be run and the application of the rights of the shareholders. This acts as a contract between the shareholders. The company itself is not bound by it, as it is not a party to the agreement. Sole proprietorship The simplest and most common structure chosen to start a business. It is an unincorporated business owned and run by one individual with no distinction between the business and you, the owner. You are entitled to all profits and are responsible for all your business’s debts, losses and liabilities.

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