What is the typical budget range for Total Legal Costs?

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January 16, 2019

by a searcher from College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA, USA

I'm starting a traditional search fund, and I have been getting quotes from lawyers in the range of $175k-$325k. Does this seem high?

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Reply by a professional
from University of San Francisco in San Francisco, CA, USA
$5k for fund setup (using established docs); $35K to $40K for the buy side deal, but it could be more depending on geography, degree of negotiation, and complexity of the deal, although should not exceed $60K. You seem to be getting quotes for middle market m&a from mid-size or larger law firms, but typically search fund deals are lower middle market deals and the type of firm you use and cost should be significantly lower.. Recommend that you consider negotiating fixed fees and/or caps with counsel.
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Reply by a searcher
in Toronto, ON, Canada
Seems very high. My background is in real estate private equity, and for institutional targetted LPs we pay around $100-200k for setup. The firms you're reaching out to hear the words private equity, fund, and their wallets start to get excited.

What sort of legal structures are they proposing? I'm thinking they're pushing an LP on you and securities compliance in those costs.
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