Practice areas/Startup Legals
Startup Lawyer Sydney — Fixed-Fee Legal for Founders
Co-founder agreements, SAFE notes, ESOPs and capital raises. Commercial advice for Australian founders, priced upfront.
Fixed fee. Senior lawyer.
Every engagement is quoted upfront and led by a senior lawyer — never a paralegal-first pipeline.
- hello@envisionlegal.com.au
- Sydney · Melbourne · National
How we help
What we handle for you.
Concrete deliverables — not a general "advice" retainer. Each item can be scoped as a one-off fixed-fee package or bundled into a monthly counsel arrangement.
01
Company setup & founder vesting
Incorporation, share structure and a co-founder agreement with vesting, IP assignment and decision rights done properly from day one.
02
SAFE notes & convertible rounds
Documenting pre-seed and seed rounds cleanly — SAFE notes, convertibles and the side letters investors actually expect.
03
Priced rounds & shareholders deed
Term sheet review, subscription agreement, shareholders deed with drag/tag, pre-emptives, board mechanics and reserved matters.
04
ESOP design
Employee share plans that qualify for the ESS start-up concession — plan rules, offer letters and grant mechanics.
05
Customer & commercial contracts
MSAs, terms of service, SaaS agreements and reseller / partnership arrangements on paper investors won't flinch at.
06
Ongoing counsel
Move to a Fractional GC retainer once the volume of contracts and people questions justifies it.
Who this is for
Clients we work best with.
- Pre-incorporation founders getting the equity split and IP position right
- Pre-seed / seed teams raising on SAFEs or convertibles
- Companies running a priced round and needing a proper shareholders deed
- Growth-stage startups rolling out an ESOP that qualifies for the start-up concession
How we work
No surprises. Ever.
Fixed fees quoted upfront. Senior lawyer on every file. Clear next steps at every stage.
01 — Scoping call
Free 20-minute call to understand what you're building, where you are in the journey and what you actually need next.
02 — Fixed-fee proposal
A written scope and price for the work. No hourly billing surprises.
03 — Documents & close
We draft, negotiate and close — and stay available as your next round or hire comes into view.
FAQs
Common questions.
- How much does a startup lawyer in Sydney cost?
- Ad-hoc startup legal advice typically runs $350–$650 per hour in Sydney. We work almost exclusively on fixed fees so founders know the price before the work starts. Common packages: co-founder agreement from $2,500 + GST, SAFE note round from $3,500 + GST, seed priced round with shareholders deed from $8,500 + GST.
- When should a startup engage a lawyer?
- Before you incorporate, before you issue shares, before you hire your first employee, and before you sign anything with an investor. The cheapest time to fix a legal issue is before it exists. A one-hour scoping call at day zero prevents most of the disputes we see at Series A.
- Do I need a co-founder agreement if we already incorporated?
- Yes. Incorporating creates the company but does not govern the relationship between founders — vesting, IP assignment, decision rights, what happens when someone leaves. Retrofitting a co-founder agreement is straightforward while everyone is aligned. It is very difficult once a dispute has started.
- SAFE note or convertible note — which should I use?
- For most Australian pre-seed and seed rounds we prefer SAFE notes: simpler, no interest, no maturity date, and now well-understood by local investors. Convertible notes make sense when the investor specifically wants debt characteristics or when a maturity backstop is important. We advise on both.
- Can I set up an ESOP in Australia without triggering tax for employees?
- Yes, if you use the ESS start-up concession. Your company must be unlisted, incorporated less than 10 years, group turnover under $50m and not in an ineligible industry. Options must be granted at fair market value with a minimum 3-year holding period. We design ESOPs that qualify.
- What is founder vesting and do I need it?
- Vesting means founders earn their shares over time — typically four years with a one-year cliff. If you plan to raise capital, investors will require it. Putting it in place at incorporation is easy; putting it in place after someone has already left with 40% of the company is not.
Talk to us
Legal built for startup legals.
Send us a note about what you're working on. We'll respond within one business day and, if we're a fit, book a free 15-minute consultation with a senior lawyer.