Lawyers for Innovators

When Pittsburgh tech incubator Alpha Lab announced last Spring its "Alpha Law" partnership with local lawyers Cohen & Grigsby, I cheered, here. The region desperately needs more high quality, reasonably-priced legal services for entrepreneurs.  What's more, I said, I hoped that other lawyers would challenge Cohen & Grigsby's lead:

The announcement at C&G's site doesn't say whether or not the arrangement is exclusive; I hope that it is not. Pittsburgh not only needs more of this sort of thing, but Pittsburgh -- and the client companies and employees that ultimately benefit from these and related professional services -- also needs some lively competition.

Last week, the sharp-eyed Malia Spencer at the Pittsburgh Business Times wrote that the Lynch Weis law firm is rolling out a menu of low-cost, fixed-fee legal services for entrepreneurs.

In the immortal words of my long-ago Geometry teacher, Mr. Rupinder Sekhon, "we're cooking on the front burner now, baby!"

You can find Cohen & Grigsby here.

You can find Lynch Weis here.

What's Not to Like?

No doubt *not* in response to this Pittsblog post from last December about what's missing in Pittsburgh's current entrepreneurial environment, but absolutely in line with my point:  "Law firm offers help to tech start-ups" from today's PG.  Cohen & Grigsby, and specifically C&G partner David Kalson, will provide some low-cost and free legal services to Alpha Lab incubated companies.  (Truth be told, my post prompted some email notes telling me that this deal was in the works, even then.)

So far as I know, this is a first-of-its-kind partnership in Pittsburgh, and it's a great development.

The announcement at C&G's site doesn't say whether or not the arrangement is exclusive; I hope that it is not.  Pittsburgh not only needs more of this sort of thing, but Pittsburgh -- and the client companies and employees that ultimately benefit from these and related professional services -- also needs some lively competition.