Best Practices in Selecting Legal Counsel Part 5: Think Long Term

All too often a client selects a lawyer primarily based on what the client needs “right now” and not “from here on.”

For example, a start-up client will often ask a lawyer what it would cost to draft an operating agreement for a limited liability company, looking for a fixed price, and perhaps shopping for the lowest fixed price. A far better approach would be for the client to ask about what the lawyer could do to help the new company get properly structured and launched over the next twelve months, positioning the company for the strategic events (such as investor funding) likely to be encountered in that period and beyond. This approach gives the lawyer a far more robust opportunity, both for delivering the range of services the client may need (and might not even know is needed), and for structuring a fee arrangement that might fit better into the client’s cash flow plans over the next twelve months instead of a one-time, up-front fixed fee.

Moreover, this approach by the client appeals to what lawyers really want—a good client over a long period of time—rather than a one-off project to deliver a specified document at the lowest possible price. The best lawyering occurs when the client and lawyer work together for an extended period of time, so that the lawyer gains a fuller understanding of the client’s business, and has the context of experience and understanding in which to give the best legal advice.

“Institutional knowledge” can be a very valuable business asset to a growing company. Clients would be wise to begin building that asset earlier, rather than later, in their attorney-client relationship. Find ways to build this asset, such as including legal counsel in management and board meetings, before a crisis has arisen and when the real business information is being developed. Think long term, from the very earliest part of the relationship.