Lowering Your Legal Fees Here are five tips to help cut your legal expenses.

• First--and most obvious--choose the right lawyer. You'llwant to match his or her skills with your needs. And it helps ifthe lawyer has other small-business clients.
• Determine the best fee structure for your business. Will thelawyer charge you by the hour, on a contingency or on a fixed-feebase?
• For certain legal tasks, use paralegals instead of attorneys.This alone can save you thousands of dollars.
• Don't call your attorney just to chat. Usually those"small talks" turn into billable hours, which can addup.
• Finally, don't accept--negotiate. Ask for prompt-paymentdiscounts. Even a seemingly small discount of 5 percent can, overtime, be significant.

Excerpted from Get Smart: 365 Tips To Boost YourEntrepreneurial IQ