Frequently Asked Questions

You need a corporate lawyer to protect you and watch your back.  A well-drafted agreement is like a good insurance policy in the event of a dispute or litigation.  Indeed, we live in a litigious society, and it is prudent to retain a good corporate lawyer to make sure you don’t get blindsided.  A good corporate lawyer will also provide solid advice and judgment, identify significant risks and help negotiate key terms in a transaction.

You can — but as the saying goes, “you get what you pay for.”  If your particular project or transaction is significant, it makes sense to hire a good lawyer for the same reason it makes sense to see a good doctor if you’re very sick.  Moreover, Web services like LegalZoom or DocStoc are not law firms and do not provide legal advice; they simply provide “fill-in-the-blank” forms, which often have no context and are not tailored to your particular situation.  Indeed, the role of a good corporate lawyer is more than just providing a form — he or she is a trusted advisor (a consigliere), who will strategize with you and help you think through key business and legal issues.

As we discuss on the “About Us” page, Frans & Associates  is a boutique law firm.  We have created a new business model designed for entrepreneurs and startups looking for an alternative to the big law firms.  The big firms are geared for the big fish — the clients generating huge, recurring legal fees. Accordingly, many entrepreneurs and startups don’t get the attention they are looking for at the big firms — and often find that their work has been assigned to young associates with little or no experience.  At Frans & Associates, we only have senior lawyers with vast experience  handling your project — and our lawyers have been trained at the big firms.  You thus get the best of both worlds.

We provide a broad range of corporate legal services — from idea to exit — i.e., from startup counseling and general corporate matters to capital financings to mergers, acquisitions and sales of businesses.  Unlike most law firms that have many different departments and specialties, we only do one thing: draft and negotiate corporate documents.  You can find a complete list of our services on the legal services page

No, we only provide corporate legal services — which we think is the key to our success.  We do, however, work very closely with an all-star team of unaffiliated lawyers to provide whatever additional legal services are necessary.  For example, if we need to structure an acquisition, we will bring-on a strong tax lawyer, who will work seamlessly with our team.; The appeal of this approach is that we can cherry-pick the top legal specialists and utilize them on an as-needed basis, which is efficient and cost-effective.

It depends.  We will get on the phone with you at no charge and discuss your project and the billing options. For certain matters, for example, we may be able to provide a fixed or flat fee, which means that no matter how long it takes us to complete the project, you only pay one fee.  This can be very appealing to entrepreneurs and startups on a tight budget.  Other matters may be more appropriately billed on an hourly basis.  Regardless of the arrangement, our goal is to make sure you are happy and to ensure that there are no end-of-the-month surprises regarding invoices.  We have also a fixed price for consultation meetings which is ANG 100,– or USD. 60,– for 30 minutes.

The first step is to send us an e-mail at info@franslegal.com to set-up a free telephonic consultation or call us at +5999 4612812.  We can then start representing you or your company as soon as (i) we establish that there are no potential conflicts of interest (e.g., that we do not represent a party on the other side of your transaction); and (ii) you execute our standard engagement letter and pay the requisite retainer deposit.