Lawyer Search Notes

2023-11-21

Met with Jeff Guevin @ Otter Creek Law

• Referred by VT Bar website for non-profit work.
• Good experience, seemed to have a lot of experience with non-profit formation and law
• Only mentioned creating 501(c)(3) and not other entities
• Discounted rate of $175/hr with paralegal time at $85/hr.
• Deposit of $300 as IOLTA (client-trust account)
• Professional demeanor, but was late to the meeting by 30 minutes. I was also late, and this saved me from embarrassment, but it's not a great sign.

2023-11-29

Met with Heather Devine @ Tarrant Gillies Shem

• She doesn't have experience with creating non-profits, but is confident she can do it and she can lean on the expertise of the firm (without necessarily having to bill for that). She said the firm operates as more of a collective for sharing skills, and only does additional billable hours for partners if there is a specific action being done.
• Was very excited about the project, I got a very good feeling from her and I think she would be more personally connected to the project's success than Jeff (for him it felt like just another client).
• Discounted rated of $200/hr (negotiable, she said that it was possible for this to be lower depending on circumstances - especially for nonprofits).
  
• Deposit of $400 (4 hours of billable)
• Neither of us was late, and she was quick to send out a zoom link when I asked for it right before the meeting.
• We got into the weeds a lot more (discussed liability and insurance and things like that). It was a great conversation, honestly. She said that I should let her know how it goes even if we don't hire her.

Next steps: meet with possible board members, talk about where we are, decide on which attorney to hire.

I need to make sure that the financials are going to actually work out before this happens, so this would be next week at the earliest (first week of December).