[mikeryan]

As a note, there's some very large and experienced firms in SV willing to take on a startup and do some amount of work for free at the beginning. I've had a major firm offer 10k of work plus introductions to VC's and other folks in their network. - Granted 10k is like 20-30 hours of some law firms, but still that can be quite a bit of work and likely your first 20-30 hours of legal advice can be your most important...

[danray]

In addition, serious SV firms will offer a fixed-price basic incorporation package. This is great, not only because the fixed fee is low, but because it tells you your company won't be the firm's guinea pig as it learns how startup incorporations and financings work. You might be surprised at how many smaller corporate firms (especially those not based here) don't have this sorted out.