Flat Fee Services

Contract Drafting and Review Projects

Contracts are the fundamental building block of any business. Even if you are a retail establishment, you have unwritten contracts. For example, if you go to a restaurant and order a meal, if the server brings the meal to your liking, you have a contractual obligation to pay for the meal.

At its core, a contract is nothing more than a written description of a business relationship. Like any successful relationship, a contract should be premised on mutual understanding and clear communication. I have an ebook on the subject with some guidance on how you can approach the contracts in your business.

We prepare the following contracts at the flat fee indicated:

Single Member LLC Operating Agreement-$500

Use this option if you have already formed your LLC with the state, but need an operating agreement. (If you need to register a business, check out our Small Business Startup Plan)

Multi-Member Partnership/Operating Agreements-$4,000

If you have a business partner (or more than one business partner), you absolutely need a partnership agreement, an operating agreement for LLCs, or a shareholder agreement for closely held corporations. This flat-fee project includes up to two hours of consultation with the partners to flesh out their relationship.

Master Services Agreement-$3,000

If your business relies on the creativity and knowledge you provide consumers, such as design companies, marketing companies, or knowledge consultants, your work may have repeat engagements and scopes of work. This contract protects you, your company, and most importantly, your intellectual property. This flat fee project includes up to 1.5 hours of consultation time.

Commercial Lease Review-$3,000

The commercial lease is one of the most important contracts a small business will sign. It is also the contract with the most arcane contract language and hidden gems to frustrate owners. This flat fee project includes up to 1.5 hours of consultation time. This flat-fee project does NOT include negotiation time with a landlord if you need it.

Independent Contractor Agreements-$1,750

If you engage Independent Contractors, you should have a contract. If the contractor does not come with their own, you will want to use a template. You can download and customize your own using this template or ask us to create a template for you directly.

Contract Reviews-$750-$3,500

If you don’t understand a contract or want an attorney to review it, this flat fee project is the way to go. Please provide the subject matter and the length of the agreement, and I will give you a quote. This project does NOT include negotiations with the other party or revisions (edits) to the contract. Prices range from $750 to $3,500, depending on the length, complexity, and subject matter.

Contract Review & Revise-Price Varies

This type of project involves reviewing the contract and making suggested revisions to advance your interests. This type of project often requires negotiation with the other party or parties. Please schedule a consultation to discuss this type of project, so I can provide you with a quote for this service.

Note: All Contract Drafting, Review, and Review & Revise projects include two rounds of revisions of the contract as part of the flat fee price. Additional rounds of revisions after the second are billed at the rate of $500 per round.

Intellectual Property

For many small businesses, their intellectual property is the most valuable property they own.  As you build a brand or share your expert knowledge, you will want to ensure that others do not steal your vision and pass it off as their own. Intellectual property protection comes in four forms: copyrights, trademarks, patents, and trade secrets.

Copyright Registration $500

Copyright is more appropriately thought of as a bundle of rights that protect the expression of an idea—note, however, that the expression is protected, not the idea itself. Registration with the U.S. Copyright Office provides an entry into federal court to protect against infringement. If you have created written, visual, audio, or other types of creative work (even non-fiction is considered creative) you can register your copyright to protect your expressions of ideas. Application fees to the government are a separate cost and depend on the nature of the material being registered.

Trademark Registration $500

A trademark is the protection given to anything that operates as a source identifier of goods and services. Think of it as a mental shortcut between the brand and the company. When you see the Apple logo on a computer, you have a good idea of the quality of the product you are getting. As companies build their brand, product lines, and marketing structure, a trademark can help them maintain the brand’s exclusivity. Trademark applications are $500 for firm services. Application fees to the government are separate and depend on the nature of the goods and services you offer.

Trade Secrets Protection-Custom Project

A trade secret is confidential business information that derives economic value and a competitive advantage by not being publicly known. To qualify as a trade secret, the information must have actual or potential monetary value because it is secret, known only to a select few, and subject to reasonable efforts to maintain its secrecy. A project to develop protocols to protect your trade secrets is a custom project that requires a consultation to determine the scope of the project and its associated price.

Patent Registration-Referred to Other Attorneys

A patent is the exclusive protection given to inventions and other useful things. To apply for a patent, you must have a patentable invention (a process, a machine, a method of manufacture, or a composition of material) that is novel, non-obvious, and subject to a series of disclosures. Although I do not provide patent services, I am happy to guide and connect you with competent patent counsel.

Licensing Agreements-Custom Project

Licensing Agreements allow a small business to profit from its intellectual property. Some considerations for licensing include what is being licensed, how it will be presented by the licensee, royalty structures, auditing rights, and many other topics. We draft licensing agreements in the same way we draft other custom contracts. Depending on the nature and complexity of the subject matter, prices may range from $1,500 to $10,000. Please schedule a consultation so that we can develop a price quote.

Cease & Desist Letter $500

If you discover someone is using your intellectual property without permission, the first step in resolving the dispute is to prepare a cease and desist letter where you politely, but firmly, ask the person to stop using your intellectual property. What happens after the cease and desist letter falls into dispute resolution services and is subject to those fees.  Preparing a cease and desist letter costs $500 plus certified letter postage.

Let us help protect, and if possible, monetize your company’s intellectual property.

Employment Law Related Projects

For every small busienss that hires employees, those employees become both the greatest help and the greatest complication as the business grows. Small business owners need understand the rules, regulations, and best practices for interviewing, hiring, training, wage and salaries, mandatory benefits, job descriptions, discipline, and termination. The difficulty with employment law is the ever-shifting set of federal, state, and local regulations that affect your relationship with employees.

Employee Handbook Drafting-$3,500

If you have more than one employee, you need to have an Employee Handbook. The Handbook outlines the expectations for employees and ownership/management, fostering a culture of mutual respect and responsibility. Combining required policies, company preferences, and basic common sense language, the Employee Handbook can save you tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees and hundreds of hours of constantly reminding employees of your expectations.

Employee Handbook Review and Revise-$2,500

If you have an Employee Handbook that you cobbled together from various sources or it has been a few years since you last updated the Handbook, this service takes a comprehensive look at current handbook and makes suggestions for updating the document.

Employee Handbook Annual Update-$1,500

If we have prepared your employee handbook in the past, we will review latest federal, state, and local statutory and regulatory updates, as well as any changes necessitated by your growing workforce, to update your handbook.

Employee Harassment/Discrimination Training-$750 for 1-Hour Session

Conducting regular training on harassment and discrimination law is strongly recommended, as evidence of such training can help offset claims by employees of harassment or discrimination. Additionally, conducting the training provides a forum where employees can come together to better understand one another. We try to make the sessions a bit more fun given the dry subject matter.

Harassment/Discrimination Investigations-Starting at $2,000

If you receive a report of harassment or discrimination from an employee, customer, or vendor, small business onwers are obligated to conduct a timely investigation. We can conduct that investigation, assemble a report, and make recommendations for action both for the alleged victim and the alleged perpetrator, and it is not always termination. Prices may increase based on the operative facts of the incident(s).

Employee Severance Advice & Termination Letter-$750

Terminating an employee can be a difficult exercise. Even when fully warranted, terminated employees do have certain rights, and the smart business owner will look to mitigate these risks. Even in an at-will employment state, claims for wrongful termination are possible.

Non-compete/Non-solicitation Agreements-$1,500

Although non-compete agreements are disfavored by the law and courts, they are still a viable option in some circumstances. Non-solicitation agreements are much more acceptable to the courts, but require careful drafting to understand what to include and how to enforce the agreements.

If you have other questions about employment law, or need something that is not listed, please schedule a consultation.