Finding a Lawyer
You need to get legal advice when starting your business almost immediately. If you are early and plan to raise venture capital consider talking to a traditional ‘venture capital’ law firm like Wilson Sonsini. The upside is that potential investors will appreciate the fact that you are working with a lawyer who ‘knows the rules.’ The downside is that they often represent your investor on the other side of transactions ~ i.e. they will be doing far more deals with your investor than you will be doing with them. Don’t worry too much about this. The best part of working with a big ‘vc’ lawyer is that they will often represent you at no cost (i.e. they will defer your billing until you get funded).
If you are located in Dallas and need a great lawyer I would recommend Ray Balestri. He has represented me a few times. The upside he is well respected and will get you the best possible deal and he might invest his own money in your deal. The downside is that I don’t think he will defer billing. Before you email me to get his contact info:
Ray A. Balestri
ray@balestri.net
Balestri & Associates
2651 N. Harwood, Suite 200
Dallas, TX 75201
(p) 214/981-9080
(f) 214/981-9081
