If your startup lawyer deals straight with you, gives you honest estimates, bills for time actually spent, uses good judgment in managing the legal time spent on your matter, avoids duplicative billing, is willing to deal fairly with situations when you question a billing item and have reasonable reasons for doing so, and, of course, does the job right and is a good lawyer to work with, then be thankful and do not quibble around the edges about things such .1 billing increments, small expense items advanced and expected to be reimbursed, and the like.

Remember that lawyers are in business too and want to devote their efforts where they will be most rewarded and appreciated. While that certainly doesn't mean cheating a client, it does mean dealing with clients who see the lawyer as a trusted ally and not as an adversary and who will not be nibbling at the ankles with every step a lawyer takes.

In dealing with any lawyer, watch out for padded bills that have vague descriptions of what was done, beware getting billed for substantial amounts of lawyer learning time, scrutinize all cases where double billing might be involved, make sure billing rates match your needs as a company (big firm vs. small firm), try always to get estimates in advance, negotiate fixed fees or caps where appropriate, get timely bills sent to you, review the bills carefully, and question billing items that don't look right. As concerns lawyer billing, those are the big items. If you pay attention to those, you will maximize your chances of getting good value from the firm and minimize the risk of abuses. Beyond that, you normally can ignore the small or trivial points. Remember that it is a professional relationship and mutual trust should be the order of the day. If it is not, then maybe it should not be maintained as a continuing relationship.