Lowering Your Legal Fees

Here are five tips to help cut your legal expenses.

Apr 15, 2002

First–and most obvious–choose the right lawyer. You’llwant to match his or her skills with your needs. And it helps ifthe lawyer has other small-business clients.
Determine the best fee structure for your business. Will thelawyer charge you by the hour, on a contingency or on a fixed-feebase?
For certain legal tasks, use paralegals instead of attorneys.This alone can save you thousands of dollars.
Don’t call your attorney just to chat. Usually those”small talks” turn into billable hours, which can addup.
Finally, don’t accept–negotiate. Ask for prompt-paymentdiscounts. Even a seemingly small discount of 5 percent can, overtime, be significant.

Excerpted from Get Smart: 365 Tips To Boost YourEntrepreneurial IQ

First–and most obvious–choose the right lawyer. You’llwant to match his or her skills with your needs. And it helps ifthe lawyer has other small-business clients.
Determine the best fee structure for your business. Will thelawyer charge you by the hour, on a contingency or on a fixed-feebase?
For certain legal tasks, use paralegals instead of attorneys.This alone can save you thousands of dollars.
Don’t call your attorney just to chat. Usually those”small talks” turn into billable hours, which can addup.
Finally, don’t accept–negotiate. Ask for prompt-paymentdiscounts. Even a seemingly small discount of 5 percent can, overtime, be significant.

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