El Paso Startup Attorneys & Lawyers

Why Hire a Start-Up Lawyer?

When you start a business, you want to make sure you have the best startup lawyer in El Paso. It's important to get someone who has worked with startups before and understands the local, state, and federal regulations that will apply to your business.

Startup lawyers can help with a number of important legal tasks that you may not be able to handle on your own.

• Dealing with government regulations: Making a mistake in registering your business with the Texas State Department or in filing your taxes can be incredibly costly and even risk the success of your business. If you hire a startup lawyer from the very beginning, you ensure that you won't make any of these mistakes.

• Reducing your liability: Any interactions you or your employees have with customers, suppliers, employees, and the public can put you at risk of liability. A startup lawyer working with you from the beginning of your business can address all of the possible liabilities before they occur, saving you money and time.

• Helping co-founders: If you are starting your company with more than one person, you will want to put together a contract or agreement that ensures everyone's initial investments are protected both in the present and during future reorganizations. 

• Hiring employees: You will definitely want to speak to a startup attorney about best practices for hiring and firing employees. Employment law in Texas is constantly changing, and you want someone on your team who can inform you of these changes as they occur. 

• Negotiating contracts: When you create relationships with customers and suppliers, you will want to draw up fair contracts as well as be able to review contracts that they may require you to sign. 

How to Find the Best Startup Lawyer in El Paso

Finding the best startup lawyer in El Paso could be as simple as asking for a recommendation from your business colleagues, your accountant, your mentors, or owners of other small businesses that are similar to yours. If you need more suggestions, you can contact the Texas Bar Association as well as the El Paso Bar Association.

Once you have a handful of recommendations, do your research. Go online and read reviews from past clients, find out their specialties and what types of businesses they have worked with, and read about the firm that they work for.

Make sure you find someone with a good knowledge of corporate law, contracts, intellectual property, tax, and employment law in Texas.

After you do your research, you should be able to narrow down the selection to no more than five. Then get in touch with them to set up interviews. You can do this by sending them an email or calling their office. This is a great way to test how contactable they are. If it takes them more than 48 hours to get back to you, they may not be easily available when you need them.

Before your meetings, prepare plenty of questions as well as all of the documents you will need to explain your business to them. You want to be able to communicate exactly what your business is about and why you will need them. 

Consider all of the information you have collected before hiring anyone. You shouldn't choose a lawyer based solely on their price. While cash flow is very important to a startup, choosing a "cheap" lawyer may result in expensive mistakes that you'll have to fix later. Choose someone with experience who understands your business, understands the industry you're in, has worked with startups in El Paso before, and knows that your budget is tight and therefore won't take advantage of you. 

Questions for Start-Up Lawyers

• Is your firm large or small? Generally, the larger the firm, the more expensive the lawyer will be. If you are concerned about cost, you should seek out experienced El Paso startup lawyers that work for smaller firms. You may need to spread your search into the suburbs of the city in order to keep costs down.

• How much do you charge? Find out up front exactly how much each of the projects you require is going to cost. Will there be other lawyers working on your case? What do they charge? How will they bill you, hourly or by project? Get all of these answers so that you can make an informed decision.

• Do you have experience working with startups? Having an experienced business lawyer is invaluable, but you want someone who also has the patience to work with startups. If they have worked with early startups in the past, they will understand all of the difficulties that you face as a new business.

Given that four out of the top 10 U.S. cities successful in recovering from the Great Recession are in Texas, a good El Paso startup attorney who is aware of economic trends could be very helpful in the startup of your business.