LLC With Lawyer $?

Wingman

I've been lurking and learning on here for about a month now. Great site with a lot of information. I already have my builders license and I am looking to form an LLC. I've already met with my CPA. I met with a lawyer today and was quoted a price of $750 to completely set up an LLC, and was also quoted a price of $250 to develop a standard contract. I know you can set up an LLC yourself for not much $, but I really want a lawyers input. Are these prices in the ball park or unreasonable? Thanks for any input.

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SelfContract

That's too much. Save yourself some hard-earned $$.. Get Nolo Business book...like Forming LLC, 4th ed. for Dummies, learn & Do-it-Yourself... not that's complicated or rocket scientist at all... all forms found in the book. Register with Courthouse, business names, registrations, licenses, taxes, etc.. then Rock & Roll.

SLSTech

Nope - not a bad price. You can save a little & spend the time & effort going the DIY route, go with a lawyer, or go with some company that take care of it for about the same price. Whats your time & piece of mind worth?

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curapa

I would go with the DIY LLC. but I would consider the $250 for a comprehensive contract a deal.

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rayh78

I also agree with DIY LLC. But most important is to make sure you research and follow the rules. You break them then the LLC is no protection.
Example. never comingle personal and business funds in the LLC account.

They are easy to setup. Quite often a good lawyer can find something you did wrong and break the LLC protection.

dakzaag

Wingman,

Spend some time reading about HO's screwing up a pretty staight forward construction job and then realize your asking the same question, just about different knowledge.

I paid $ 650 or so, three years ago, now the lawyer keeps me up to date about the legal stuff regarding the LLC (not much there I admit) and if I have a legal question I can ask for an opinion no charge.

Why would you want to DIY on the most important legal document your business is going to create. Limited Liability means what it says, screw it up and your not limited. JMHO

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Logic

Can someone please explain to me what a Lawyer would do diffrently when setting up the LLC then you would do yourself? I use attorneys for alot of things and reccomend it, but for setting up an LLC, I dont get it?! (not trying to sound like a jerk, hey maybe there is something I am not thinking of)

curapa

I did forget to mention that my LLC is a single owner, I think I have heard that some states do not allow a single owner LLC. If you are forming an LLC with a partner then I would consult an attorney or maybe try to persuade you not to have a partner.

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480sparky

An LLC is not the end of all means. For some, an LLC would be the wrong move. A Chapter S or C Corporation may be a better option.

Laws vary from state to state, and since you're making a legal maneuver, it's best to involve a lawyer. Legal eagles know the laws better than we do.

After all, we're pros here and we cringe when someone attempts a DIY, and we have to go fix it. Imagine making a mistake in the legal arena.... what can you lose?

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RCPainting

Ya think there is a "lawyertalk.com" where they talk about the DIYers!
When I set up my corp I met with acct and lawyer so I could explore all options and have guidance on the right choice.

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Bill Z

Can someone please explain what a sunroom expert who has training, support, and experience would do differently than if I buy the materials from the D-I-Y store and build it on the weekend?

Maybe foundation, code, proper flashing, tempered glass, aesthetic value, tinted glass, yada, yada, yada.....

(not trying to sound like a jerk, but how do you know what you don't know? The downside risk of doing a D-I-Y LLC is pretty big if you go up against a smart attorney whose client owes you $40K)

Logic

I understand the point you are trying to make, I just don't see how I could mess up filling out some paper. Perhaps thats my problem and I didn't do all that I needed to. I'll have to check now. Though I did have a previous LLC that one of the Lawyers my Wife does work for registered for me and I am pretty sure he did nothing diffrent than I did this time.....

Logic

ChainsawCharlie

I paid roughly $450 to The Company Corp (llc.com) to set up my LLC. That included all the fees that went to the state, obtaining my FEIN...they did everything for me, and I got three Nolo books from them. Legal Forms For Small Business, Legal Guides Forms For Small, Business Tax Savy Business and Your Limited Liability Corproration and a few other things too. It was worth it, IMO. I didn't have to do squat.

DavidC

I'm on the side of the fence with hiring a lawyer. Agreed, you don't know what you don't know. We paid $750 to have ours set up. What we got in addition to the setup was a bit of research (by the lawyer) prior to our meeting so we could compare the pros and cons, LLC or S corp, for our intended business.

Our contract cost was $150. Same idea in my mind, too important to be left to a DIY'er.

Ever talk to a HO that was confident he could open up an exterior wall and put that french door in himself? He has the book afterall.

Good Luck
Dave

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LNG24

Because RUNNING an LLC is more involved than filling out some paperwork. Publish the notice in the wrong paper at the wrong time, fail to keep your books in the correct order, forget to add LLC to one ad and you just allowed anyone to PIERCE the LLC protection.

Do you know all this, maybe? I didn't . The real question is DOES the OP know all this? Does he know why you choose an LLC over an S corp or a C corp? We are contractors, we know how to build in our field because we are experts at what we do. There are bad contractors and there are bad attorneys. Attorneys study law, case files and advise us how to stay protected. Can we do this ourselves? Sure some of us can, but if you are getting sued for all you are worth PLUS some, will you trust that you did everything right so that the Plaintiffs attorney will be unable to pierce that coveted LLC, S or C designation or will you be *****tin a brick? Wondering if you will loose your house, your tools and your vehicle.

See, if you are sued and you loose, the judge does not say, well you get to keep your house, they say, how soon can you liquidate and give you a deadline. The judge will not care if you have 5 kids living under that roof and you need all those tools to make a living.

So if you can put yourself in a worse case scenario and be comfortable with all that, then go ahead and do your own LLC.

Me, I run everything by my attorney and accountant. In return, they run all Real Estate and Construction questions by me. I don't work for them for free and they don;t work for me for free.

Mellison

Excellent advice!

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Wingman

Thanks for all of the input. This attorney was recommended to me and has a lot of expericence working with contractors. $750 seemed expensive and was hoping to start up less with expense, but i guess $750 will be cheap insurance if I ever have a problem down the road.

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HomeSealed

Attorneys are very useful in many cases, but this topic seems a little ridiculous. The analogies used are way off. Doing your own LLC is more like an HO applying for a permit to get a sunroom, not building one. There is nothing more than filing a few forms involved. In WI you can actually do the whole ball of wax including FEIN, etc, right on the state website and it guides you through the process. There is really not much room for error. Its not like you are drafting up your own contract/documents, you are filling in blanks...I agree that consulting with an attorney to figure out whether an LLC or S Corp, etc fits your needs better is advisable, but paying $750 to file a few papers with the state is not. Also, whether you follow all the procedures that protect you as an LLC in the course of running your business has nothing to do with who filed the paperwork. Johnny Cochran could've filed the papers but if I do something that exposes me to liability it won't make any difference....Whatever helps you sleep at night I guess.

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Max Nomad

With this discussion, the problem is that we're all in different states and have only been subjected to our own experiences with said regulations.

For example, here in Virginia, setting up an LLC from Tax-ID to local biz license to state certificate will cost you about $150 dollars or so. If you go to California the LLC doesn't cost much more than that either -- BUT they also have to pay an $800 dollar Franchise Tax (yes, $800 minimum). Add that up and then it'll make sense how come the average lawyer out there in Cali will charge about $1000 to set up an LLC.

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