Question 1

Do I need legal advice for my funding round?

Accepted Answer

It depends - our legal advisory service won't be required for all rounds.

For many rounds, our funding round service is all you'll need, especially for smaller or more straightforward rounds which don't need the additional support of a lawyer in the negotiations. Generally, if you're doing a Bootstrap round, SEIS round or smaller Seed round, you're unlikely to need our Advisory service. We've also seen larger rounds - even several Series A rounds for £5M+ complete on SeedLegals without hiring legal advice.

However, some funding rounds can be more complex, particularly with a VC as lead investor. That's when help from a specialist lawyer can help you negotiate the best deal for your company.

Not sure if our Advisory service is right for your upcoming round? Email us at advisory@seedlegals.com to arrange a free chat.

Question 2

How much does SeedLegals Advisory cost?

Accepted Answer

Our legal advisory service costs an upfront flat fee of £4,999+VAT for up to 25 hours of expert lawyer time. This cost is on top of the usual cost of your funding round (see our pricing calculator).

Don't worry - your used hours will be transparent throughout the process - no surprises, no hidden costs. If you need additional hours over 25, you can add more hours at a cost of £200+ VAT for each additional hour. You'll need a SeedLegals Plus membership to access this service.

Question 3

What happens to the fees if the round falls through?

Accepted Answer

If you don’t complete your funding round, you won’t be refunded the £4,999, but you won’t have to pay the remaining balance of your funding round fees.

Question 4

Do I get my own, dedicated lawyer?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you will have a dedicated senior venture capital lawyer with leading City law firm experience to help you throughout. They will be your main point of contact throughout the round to help you achieve the best outcome for your business.

Question 5

Can I still use the legal advisory service if my investor wants to use their own documents, rather than first drafts being created using the platform?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Our expert lawyers can review drafts of the investment documents that are produced by your investor/their legal counsel - and work with you to negotiate any terms that you are unhappy with.  Our pricing model would remain unchanged.

Question 6

Can I still use the customer support team for things like options and employment agreements outside the round?

Accepted Answer

You and other admins can still get unlimited help from our expert support team via live chat, video call or email. Your lawyer will have oversight on all communication to ensure that you receive a seamless service from the entire team here at SeedLegals.

Question 7

Will technical platform issues or queries come out of my 25 hours?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely not. We still offer unlimited technical support in addition to expert legal advice. Your lawyer will be your main point of contact throughout negotiations but our usual funding experts from the customer support team will be there to help with things like:

setup

technical issues

background checks

platform queries

We put efficiency at the heart of everything we do so that your lawyer only works on the legals, and our platform and customer support team take care of the rest.

Question 8

Do I still have my Account Manager?

Accepted Answer

Your Account Manager will still be a key contact and in the loop on how things are going, but your main point of contact will be your dedicated lawyer throughout the round. Your Account Manager will be the person to go to for questions around payment, your membership, or anything outside the round too.

Question 9

Can you help with due diligence, disclosures and preparing a data room?

Accepted Answer

We are more than happy to assist you with due diligence and/or disclosures. We do, however, realise that due diligence/disclosures can be a time-consuming exercise and could therefore use up a lot of your lawyer’s hours.
You might want to consider to what extent due diligence/disclosures can be handled directly between you and the lead investor. Before we start any work, we’ll create a workflow with you that ensures the most efficient use of the hours you’ve purchased based on your needs.

Your Data Room is included in the cost of your funding round. Read more about how to use it in Deal data room: securely share documents with investors

Question 10

Will my SeedLegals advisor negotiate directly with my lead investor's lawyers or does it need to go via the founder?

Accepted Answer

Yes, your SeedLegals advisor will absolutely negotiate directly with your lead investor's lawyers (subject to your instructions). Our advisors all come from leading City law firms, are well-versed in the tricks of the trade and totally committed to achieving the best outcome for your business.

Question 11

Is SeedLegals a law firm?

Accepted Answer

SeedLegals is not a law firm and we are not regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA). You can find out more about what this means for you in our Terms of Service.

All our advisory lawyers are individually regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) (for our lawyers qualified in England) or the Law Society of Scotland via the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC) (for our lawyers qualified in Scotland) and are required to comply with the relevant regulatory standards and rules, as well as our own internal policies and processes. Your lawyer may work together with unregulated team members but they will remain accountable to their regulatory body for the work as a whole.

Question 12

Is SeedLegals insured to offer legal advice?

Accepted Answer

SeedLegals has technology professional indemnity insurance in place for its technology products and related services, including any documents generated on SeedLegals, as well as any bespoke documents that are prepared and approved by your lawyer. This insurance also includes cover for legal consultancy services, under which the advisory services are classified.