Startup lawyer helps to determine right time to incorporate a company for a Startup. Attorney Drafts the Co-founders Agreement, IP Assignment Agreements, Employment Contracts, External Vendor Consultant Agreements, Product Development Agreements & assist in Deciding Stock Options Among Co-founders of a Startup. Determining Intellectual Property (IP) Created by Startups & Protecting Intellectual Property Rights, IPR, Patents, Trademarks, Designs, Copyrights, Trade Secrets, and Domain Names.
Role of Startup Lawyers
A startup lawyer works with startups, entrepreneurs, emerging companies, early stage companies and SMEs. The job of a startup attorney begins with inception (incorporation of legal entity) of the startup and goes on till the exit, encompassing general legal counseling all across the way.
Drafting various contracts and agreements form a core part of services provided by startup lawyer. In addition, providing advisory related to employee stock options (ESOPs) plans and setting up equity structure among co-founders is another mainstream service sought by startups from a business lawyer.
A startup lawyer works closely with startups and investors during angel or venture funding (financings) rounds, and provides expert inputs during mergers and acquisitions.
Based on latest trends and best practices followed by startups, legal advisory related to Crowdfunding is also an important service offered by startup lawyer.
Advice Offered by Startup Lawyers
Following is a broad list of most common services provided by a startup lawyer:
(a) Legal Documents Required to Incorporate a Startup
(b) Selecting Proper Legal Entity to Suit Needs of Startup
(c) Right Time to Incorporate a Company for a Startup
(d) Drafting Co-founders Agreement
(e) Deciding Stock Options Among Co-founders of a Startup
(f) Determining Intellectual Property (IP) Created by Startups
(g) Protecting Intellectual Property Rights (IPR: Patents, Trademarks, Designs, Copyrights, Trade Secrets, Domain Names)
(h) Ensuring Startup’s Intellectual Property (IP) Ownership by way of IP Assignment Agreements, Employment Contracts, External Vendor (Consultant) Agreements, Product Development Agreements etc.
(i) Ensuring Taxation Compliance and Tax Management for Startups
(j) Incorporation of Appropriate International Legal Entities
Conclusion – Best Practices to Hire a Startup Lawyer
While hiring a lawyer for business related legal advice, startups should follow a proactive approach by evaluating the strengths of a startup lawyer (corporate attorney) and what kind of value will be added by hiring a particular lawyer.
