How to Find a Venture Capital Lawyer

Venture capital may be good way for your business to get quick financing, with fewer initial costs than a typical securities offering. However, you may need to give up a lot of equity to the venture capitalists because of the high risk they are willing to assume. Certainly, any business considering financing options should have competent legal representation especially when the equity of your business is at stake. You can’t call just any lawyer in the phonebook’s yellow pages though for something this serious. Where can you find a venture capital lawyer then? When you do find one, how do you know if the lawyer is actually competent? Here are some steps to help you answer these questions and find the venture capital lawyer you are looking for.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• A computer
• A search engine such as google
• A printer or pencil
• Transportation
• Money

1. Type in the website URL above Sign on to the internet and go to this website.
   “Find Venture Capital lawyers and law firms by state or province”
   http://www.lawyers.com/Venture-Capital/browse-by-location.html
   Click on the link to your state and then click on the link to the city nearest to where your business is located. Write down at least three names along with their addresses and phone numbers.
2. Go to this website http://www.whitepages.com/ Under the business search heading, where it says name or category, type in lawyer venture capital. Then put your zip code and hit enter. Do the same names come up? If so, stick with the ones you have, if not write down at least three names along with their addresses and phone numbers.
3. Find the website of your state’s Bar Association. You might find it by typing in www.yourstate’sinitialsbar.org. For example, the State Bar of Michigan is located at http://www.michbar.org. Then look for the Lawyer Referral option found under public resources. They have a 1-800 number you can call to have a lawyer referred to you in your area.
4. Look for a link to "Disciplinary Agencies/Authorities" while you are at your state's bar website and click on that link. Then look for a link to
   "ATTORNEY DISCIPLINE BOARD" and click on that link. Then find the link for "OPINIONS AND NOTICES OF DISCIPLINE" and click on that. Search for the names of any attorneys you have on your list to call. If you find one of the names on your list, cross the name off, and call one of the others.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't forget to ask for references.
• Once you have a list of references, actually call some of the names on the list and get their opinions.
• Ask the lawyer you are considering what a weighted average anti-dilution formula is. It is a formula that venture capitalists often insist upon to protect their investment from dilution.
• Ask the lawyer you are considering what preemptive rights are. They are the venture capitalist's rights to maintain the same stock percentage of ownership in a company by participating in future stock sales.
• Don't skip the step of checking the lawyer's record at the State Bar Association. You don't want to pay a lot of money for bad advice or bad legal work. In the end, it may cost you your business.