Generally, it’s never really too early to start looking for advisors, investors, or targets.

For legal, I’d be more concerned about whether they have transaction experience. In my opinion, having “search” experience is not necessary.

Hi Smitha, it's never too early to connect with advisors, and getting some preliminary general early can help with big picture planning. What state the attorney is licensed in may or may not be important, depending on the type of deal and business that is being acquired. I'm an attorney with relevant experience, and I would be happy to meet and chat anytime, even if you're in early phases and aren't looking to engage your deal team just yet. Feel free to contact me if you'd like to talk[redacted], [redacted]

I found it most helpful to prioritize attorneys with transaction experience in the specific industry that you are interested in. This way they have relevant experience dealing with the important deal points that can come up within a given industry. Geography can also play an important rule depending on the industry so you may want to factor that in as well

Most of the time you don’t need a lawyer licensed in your specific state. SF has a number of good lawyers with deal experience. I agree with David that “search” experience isn’t really needed, but experience in setting up companies, dealing with investors and buying a business is a must. Search is really just a subset of this practice, which is typically called “M&A”. Reach out to a number of lawyers for introductory calls and make an informed decision. Most lawyers would prefer you reach out early rather than later in a deal. If something needs to be changed it’s a lot easier and cheaper to do it earlier. Good luck!

A lot of good points above. A couple of key points I would also emphasize are 1) price - be clear about any limitations or expectations up front, some lawyers are expensive, and some lawyers are insanely expensive; and 2) experience - as was mentioned above, I think it's more important to have a lawyer experienced in business transactions than one specifically experienced in the area of search funds.

Keep burning through those free consultations until you find the right fit!

Thank you all so very much. This has been immensely useful!

All helpful, thank you.

Smitha I would add that there an attorneys who may be willing to give you a break on broken deal costs. I would work with someone like that. Broken deal costs can kill a searcher