Is that how you feel? $250 an hour, if you're lucky, and what do you get for it?

Your corporate counsel, along with your IP counsel, make up the walls and cannons of your company's fortress. A good attorney truly cares:

a) for you as an entrepreneur and a human being,
b) for your company's success, and
c) for your employees' and shareholders' interests.

You must manage your attorney. A poor attorney, or an attorney under company stress will rack up the hours while trying to do a good job for you. You will need to pick through your itemized legal bills with a toothpick.

Conversely:

1) The great ones understand the world you live in, and the orbits you fly on, all the time.
2) The great ones will answer your e-mail quickly, smartly, and effectively.
3) The great ones will take you lunch, or out for a beer, at their expense, once in while, and get you to talk about all the things you keep bottled up.
4) The great ones will make sure their advice is understood and listened to.
5) The great ones will force your hand and not let you sign a contract because you think it the right thing to do when in truth you are refusing to acknowledge an important legal issue.