NYCPHP Meetup

[Terry Kim]

Hello there

I was wondering if the mailing list members would be able to share
some entrepeneurial insight.  During the day I work at a commercial
CMS doing tech support and knowledge management, as a side business
I've established a part-time home business doing Joomla and Wordpress
consulting.  I would like my consulting business to be successful, and
am looking for an attorney to assist me with this endeavor.  I'm
willing to invest time/money/effort for this... but also would like to
keep costs at a minimum.

The initial requirements I'm looking for are
- able to practice law in state of CT, NJ/NY would be a plus
- some prior experience with business law as relates to IT consulting
- understands and accomodates that my target demographic is small
business owners/non-profits... am not looking for help to draft a 15
page contract to intimdate small business owners
- need help with
a) review of website development and maintenance contracts I've drafted
b) able and willing to represent me if I am sued by a future customer
c) able to review my consulting business and advise me of any
complications.  Filed myself in CT as an LLC this year, doing okay so
far.

I know a few people from the CT Joomla user group, and socially know a
few lawyers... but am not really sure how to best find an attorney as
described above.  Advised to ask referrals (hence the email), contact
the local BAR association, etc.  Working with a SCORE counselor, been
told this an attorney is a necessity.

So my question is, what are other Joomla or CMS consultants doing.. as
sole proprietors, 2-3 person shops, or larger, how much time/resources
do you invest in the legal side of things, or do you get away with
just using some straightforward and pre-emptive boilerplate contracts
tailored for your circumstances, what mistakes have you made.  I am
also willing to be told... do your homework/this isn't the correct
venue/etc :)

Many thanks, Terry

-- 
Terry Kim
************************
Email: kim.terry at gmail.com  |  Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/terrykim