7 Non-Negotiables You Need in Prepaid Legal Services for Your Small Business (Before You Waste Money!)
Are you looking for prepaid legal services for small business? Make sure you get these key things before you sign up for a money pit!
Starting a business is so exciting, but to stay in business, you’ll need legal protections for your business activities, intellectual property, money, and growth. As an entrepreneurial lawyer myself, helping online entrepreneurs and small business owners like you, I’m sharing the key things you need in prepaid legal services for small business, so you’ll get the help your business needs (without ending up in a money pit!).
In this blog post, I’m helping you choose the right prepaid legal services for small business by sharing:
What are the best prepaid legal services for your business
The 7 key things to look for and what will make the best legal subscription service
What to watch out for in legal services (especially when they offer so-called free legal advice for small businesses)
After learning all about prepaid legal services for small business, you’ll have the right legal service to let your business not only survive, but thrive!
This post is all about what to look for and what to avoid in prepaid legal services for small business.
Best Prepaid Legal Services for Small Business
How to find the best prepaid legal services
1. Real Access to a Lawyer — Not Just a Call Center
Many legal services claim that you’ll get access to a lawyer while you’re getting either:
A service representative or a paralegal who’s just starting out
A generalist who does not know anything about your niche
A different lawyer every time, who you’ll have to explain your business to all over again
Obviously, you won’t be getting the best prepaid legal services in any of these cases.
What You Need in Prepaid Legal Services for Small Business
What you need in prepaid legal services for small business is:
One dedicated lawyer who actually knows you and your business
Who understands your specific industry and niche
Who you have 1-on-1 contact with (instead of their legal assistant)
Who offers direct communication via email, phone, or video (not just generic “support” portals)
Some prepaid plans only offer vague “legal advice” via reps or paralegals. You need actual access to a licensed attorney who knows business law (and ideally, your industry).
With any prepaid legal services for small business, ask if you’ll get (direct) access to a lawyer who is specifically designated to your business.
2. Clear Contract Review & Revision Limits
Many legal contract services claim that “contract reviews” are included. But here’s what that actually means:
A lawyer (or paralegal) reviews your contract
They give you a very vague description of what’s wrong with the contract and what should be changed
But they don’t actually make those changes for you because contract revisions are not part of their legal subscription
You won’t be able to make those changes yourself because you have no real guidance on what to do
That lawyer charges you $100s, if not $1,000s, to change your contract for you
See how some prepaid legal services for small business can become complete money pits?
What You Need in Prepaid Legal Services for Small Business
So here’s what you need to look for:
Number of pages or contracts included for review in the service
The number of reviews per month
If revisions are included in the legal subscription
What the limits are of the revisions
A fixed fee for any additional reviews or revisions
That way, you know exactly what to expect, and there’s a limit on what any additional revisions will cost you.
3. Tools that give you independence, not make you dependent
The best prepaid legal services should give you the tools to run your business independently, not make you dependent on them.
The issues I see with many prepaid legal services for small business are the following:
They provide “access” to legal templates, but you need their program to fill them out. You’ll then receive a PDF that you can’t customize later. Thus, you can’t actually customize your templates without them.
Other legal services provide contract templates that don’t include the guidance you need, so you don’t even know how to customize them. Thus, you’ll still have to ask them to customize it (for an additional fee).
They’ll offer a customization service, but the attorney only fills in the blanks instead of including custom clauses for your specific niche.
What You Need in Prepaid Legal Services for Small Business
The best prepaid legal services should provide you with:
Contract templates in Word format with guidance that you can use without legal assistance (so even after you leave them)
A fixed fee revision service to include special clauses in the legal templates, like extra disclaimers.
(Discounted) fixed fee custom contracts services for completely custom contracts (like in the case of partnerships, licensing, or very niche or unique products or services)
4. Industry-Relevant Expertise
What is an absolute make-or-break for your business is a lawyer who understands your industry and (sub)niche.
There are major differences between the businesses of coaches, professional service providers, Etsy sellers, course creators, social media creators, agencies, yoga teachers, and freelancers.
Even within an industry, there’ll be major differences. I wrote all about that with respect to the differences in consultants, for example.
And so are the legal needs of each of these types of businesses. You need advice that actually applies to your type of business.
The issue with many prepaid legal services for small business is that:
These are very generic services for generic businesses
These legal professionals have no knowledge of your industry
Because you’re one of many, they don’t take the time to understand your specific business needs. They don’t place themselves in the shoes of the small business owners they service.
What You Need in Prepaid Legal Services for Small Business
Here are some ways you can find out whether a legal service is the best legal subscription service for your specific business:
Do they demonstrate that they have any knowledge of your type of business? For example, through in-depth blog posts or LinkedIn posts (a cute photo of a lawyer on Instagram with a coaching contract doesn’t cut it).
Are they familiar with the type of contracts you need for your type of business, like T&C for digital products, content licensing agreements, or online client services?
Search on their website for content relating to your niche, or just ask them directly!
5. Transparent Pricing (No Surprise Fees)
The other thing about many prepaid legal services for small business is that the monthly price they project is usually not all they’ll charge.
Watch out for hidden upgrade fees, add-on charges, or strict limits that force you to “upgrade” just to get basic support, like in these cases:
The contract review is included in the monthly fee, but the changes necessary will be made at a rate to be determined by the lawyer, which could be anywhere from $250 to $1,000.
They offer free calls, but they turn out to be more like sales calls, and you’ll only get the help you need for an additional fee.
There’s no clear overview of fixed fees for additional work, or they only work at an hourly rate, so you’ll still end up with surprises.
Usually, when the monthly fee is too good to be true, it is. So, that $49/month plan may sound great until you need a revision or real legal advice and get slapped with a $1,000 invoice.
What You Need in Prepaid Legal Services for Small Business
Here’s what you should look for:
Clear breakdown of what’s included in the monthly fee
Upfront pricing for add-ons that are flat fees
Clear terms and conditions with no vague “extra fees may apply” fine print
6. Fast Turnaround Times
If you’re making a deal, launching a new product, or have a legal issue with a customer, you need to get that done as soon as possible.
You can’t let your deal fall through because it’s taking 2 weeks for your lawyer to deliver an NDA.
You can’t wait another month to launch your product because you’re waiting on your lawyer to finalise your terms and conditions.
You can’t remain unpaid by your angry customer, as you’re waiting over 3 weeks to hear back from your lawyer.
Legal help is useless if it takes forever to get the help you need.
What You Need in Prepaid Legal Services for Small Business
Here’s what the best prepaid legal services should give you:
A standard response time for emails (I’d say 2 or 3 business days is reasonable)
A standard delivery time for custom contracts and revisions (which should be about 5 business days or a week)
They should provide rush options if needed
Don’t accept “whenever we get to it.”
7. Protection for Growth — Not Just Setup
The thing with a lot of prepaid legal services for small business is that they’re focused on just the beginning phase, like setting up your LLC, trademarking your logo, or creating your first client contract. But they don’t actually help with the long-term growth.
Legal needs don’t end once you get a basic contract:
What about hiring your first VA?
What about expanding your products or services, like launching a course?
What about licensing your content for multiple streams of income?
What about synergies and partnerships?
What about T&C for a new affiliate program?
What You Need in Prepaid Legal Services for Small Business
Your legal needs evolve. Look for a service that grows with you, offering ongoing support as your team, offers, and income expand, like:
Adding terms and conditions for affiliates
Hiring help
Licensing content
Updating your client contract to reflect your evolving services
A great bonus is if the legal services include monthly 1-on-1 calls (with the same lawyer) in which you can discuss not only immediate legal issues but also advice on how to grow and earn more. That’s a real value-add!
A great prepaid legal service doesn’t just protect your business—it helps it grow smarter and safer.
The best legal subscription service for your business
Want prepaid legal services for small business that actually check all the boxes?
That’s exactly why I created Lawyered by Selene—my monthly legal membership designed for online business owners who want real legal protection, 1-on-1 access to a lawyer, and ongoing support that grows with your business. You’ll get contract reviews, free templates, monthly check-in calls, and fast email responses—all without surprise fees or generic advice. You’ll get:
Up to 2 contract revision rounds per month
Unlimited email access for your legal questions
A monthly 30-minute check-in call
Free access to all my contract templates
Priority response within 2 business days
A 20% discount on custom contracts and extra services (no surprise invoices!)
Click here to learn more about Lawyered by Selene and get legally protected today!
This post was all about what you need in prepaid legal services for small business (and how to avoid money pits)!
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