Average Legal Costs

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December 18, 2025

by a searcher from The University of Michigan - Stephen M. Ross School of Business in New York, NY, USA

I'm helping another business with an acquisition (~$1.2m purchase price) in the media space and looking to find a lawyer to paper the transaction. Can someone share guidance on average costs for lawyers that work on deals of this size? Additionally, if anyone has any recommendations on lawyers, I'd appreciate the recs.
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commentor profile
Reply by a professional
from University of Michigan in Detroit, MI, USA
Hi redacted‌, my firm is focused on this space and regularly closes deals in the $1-2MM range. We work flat fee or hourly (it's up to our clients). As for actual cost, it will depend. But for a deal of this size, you shouldn't be looking at more than $15,000 if proceeding with a flat fee. You also have other options. Feel free to reach out if you want to discuss at redacted
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Reply by a searcher
from Northwestern University in Phoenix, AZ, USA
Depends on deal complexity. sMB law had affordable pricing for deals up to $1M purchase price. In general, you can get legal done for $25-50k for low complexity LMM deals. Most of that you can negotiate to roll into the closing costs. So you pay a partial retainer and good faith deposit upfront. Not all attorneys will do this. For complex larger deals, expect $50-75k. Traditional searchers for some reason are paying expensive firms $100-150k but that’s not needed
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