If you're like most entrepreneurs, dealing with legal firms for issues like company formation, financing and business contracts is like visiting your dentist. You cringe just thinking about it because you know it's going to hurt. I'm talking about your pocketbook. Hiring big law firms these days will cost you $400+ per hour and you're often handed a junior attorney that's learning the ropes. But entrepreneurs in the know have found great alternatives in a new breed of firms like Paragon Legal.
Paragon provides startups with senior level attorneys (10+ years experience) who have worked at the best law firms in the country at 50%+ less than the average associate from a large law firm. How do they do it? Paragon has striped out the overhead. Instead of operating under the traditional law-firm pyramid, they have removed the bulk of the costs associated with that management structure. This allows them to offer services at greatly reduced rates but still attract the best attorneys. Like many internet businesses they are just stripping out most of the middleman costs.
For most startups looking at cutting every cost possible, you'll want to look at Paragon.
*For full-disclosure I have to admit that my SO is the managing attorney at Paragon..but this has only made me more aware of the issue and alternatives;)