Should i pay a professional $2000 to get me an LLC for my personal online business or should i do it my self??

This sounds expensive. Lawyers would typically be cheaper. What are they doing special that a lawyer would not do? You should do some comparison shopping with business lawyers. Be sure the deal includes an Organization Agmt if you expect to have other investors or members. The Agmt should have buyout provisions in case you get a sour member. I cannot recommend a DIY on an LLC. There may be tax advantages to using an S corp instead with respect to withholding taxes. Ask about that.

Go shop around and find other rates from other attorneys. More expensive is not always better, but if you pay peanuts you'll get monkeys. Hire an attorney regardless to ensure it is done correctly and that an LLC is actually the best entity for you, but go interview other attorneys and ask them what their rates are and where the money is going. That entire $2K may not be going into the attorneys pocket and could be covering his/her out of pocket expenses which would include filing fees and a corporate book.

To be able to answer this question with absolute certainty, it would be best to first discuss the exact business and activities that you are engaging in. I would say that you could generally get it done for cheaper. For instance, I typically charge a flat rate of $1,000.00 for formation of a single member LLC. You may be able to find others to do it for even cheaper. One thing to be careful of is using online services that simply reprint the same template documents for every business. There is a reason that their services are so cheap. Their documents are not necessarily going to fit your needs.

What is the Impact Knowledge Institute? Unless they happen to be lawyers and plan to draft your operating agreement for you, paying them $2,000 seems silly. If this LLC is single member, you could get forms from Nolo that would suffice. If you were planning an LLC with one or more other members and you were talking to an experienced business attorney, $2,000 would be reasonable.

Let me put it quite simple--I am a Tax/Business attorney with 10 years experience--if I have an question re: criminal, family, immigration, franchise, real estate and so forth I ask another attorney/refer a client to them--the law is just so complicated that doing things yourself is a bad idea. In fact, even in my area of expertise I bounce ideas off colleagues every day. As for your business, there are so many issues and questions to be asked that may or may not relate to your situation now, but they will if the business is successful that you want to establish a relationship with an attorney that you just call for a 10 minute chat when you have a question or review a contract--review your website's compliance issues--the list is endless. I am not sure what this knowledge institute is but if its not experienced business/tax/entity attorneys, $2k is absurd (Though I bet they show you the great leather binder you get upon formation w/snazzy certificates) . Granted some documents for new business can cost much more or much less depending on your specific circumstances. Sometimes I can spend a lot of time just asking questions before I even have a clue what may work best for you. So see a local attorney, find one you like/could see yourself turning to him/her in the future for advice and go from there. I can tell you there are some fantastic business/tax lawyers in Seattle that could serve your needs.

In my opinion that is an absurd fee. We would never charge that much and none of the attorneys I know would either. I would do it yourself or look for a better price. Regards, Peter J. Lamont, Esq. Law Offices of Peter J. Lamont 146 Florence Avenue, Hawthorne, NJ 07506 Phone: (973) 949-3770 Fax: (866) 603-0471 Toll Free: (855) NJLAW01 (855) 655-2901 www.peterlamontesq.com Additional Offices in Massapequa, NY, San Juan, PR, Monument, CO and affiliates throughout the country.

Its probably way too much. It just depends on how much work they are doing. If they are procuring an EIN, filing a tax election, filing Articles of Organization and also putting together an LLC Operating Agreement between yourself and the owners, then its not terrible. That said, if you don't need a complicated LLC agreement - or don't need one at all because you are solo - then its way too high. You can get a qualified business attorney for much less. Offices like mine will offer you a flat rate for that type of work. Best of luck to you!

The other attorneys have provided some great advice. The pricing of the services will depend on what is being offered, but $2000 seems high for a sole member LLC. I would shop around and find counsel that you are comfortable with. www.apexlg.com

Trust me, you don't even know if you want an LLC if it will be single member. But whatever entity type it is, that is a lot considering it is just a straight filing. The thing about the LLC, is that it will be disregarded for tax purposes because it is a single member LLC. I have often found S Corporations to many be more beneficial in a single-owner context. And that is one of the reasons you want to hire an attorney. Even if that thing was $200, it might be a piece of garbage for your purposes. You will find no shortage of people that tell you that you need an LLC without asking any questions whatsoever. Any party that cannot walk you through the pros and cons of both, is a party you should walk away from. They will make money no matter how bad the fit is for you. It is bad enough they are charging you $2000 for that work, but to add insult to injury, they will not even take the time to maximize the value of the entity they are over-charging you for. We do entity formations, and I am in your area. Christopher Larson Insight Law www.insightlawfirm.com