Topic map / Regulation, tax and professional advice
Record the client, the scope, and the confidentiality. Then decide whether you need your own adviser.
The comment on ABA Model Rule 1.13 says the organisational client is a legal entity and cannot act except through officers, directors, employees, shareholders, and other constituents. It is a US model rule, not UAE law. A direct request for the comment was blocked; a second fetch returned the text. The useful question is local: who retained this lawyer, who pays, who the lawyer says the client is, and what they will not keep confidential from the company.
A disputed departure, a personal guarantee, a change in compensation, or a sale are moments when a founder should not assume the company’s lawyer is advising them personally. The aim is clarity. It is not a default to hire several firms for every small decision.
Before you rely on a template, write the transaction, the applicable law, the model version, the missing schedules, the documents it interacts with, and any unusual change. Keep three sentences apart: what is called market convention, what this counterparty prefers, and what the law requires. FAST’s line that no lawyer is necessary is not advice.
Question. Who is the lawyer’s client, and when do a founder’s interests need separate advice?
I have already signed, paid or lost access if the commitment is no longer only a plan.
Model Rule 1.13, comment: organisation as client · American Bar Association
The comment says the organisational client is a legal entity and cannot act except through officers, directors, employees, shareholders, and other constituents. It is a US model rule, not UAE law. A direct request was blocked; a second fetch returned the comment. A company lawyer is not automatically the founder’s lawyer.
Founder/Advisor Standard Template (FAST), version 3 · Founder Institute
A template. FI recommends at least one month and 8 hours together before discussing FAST, and a three-month cliff. The equity grid is the template’s own schedule, not a rule for a particular company. FI says no legal assistance is necessary. This site does not repeat that as advice. Check any modified copy against the original. It does not replace the company’s lawyer.
Model legal documents · National Venture Capital Association
The catalogue page says each document is a starting point only, should be tailored, and should not be construed as legal advice for any particular facts. The landing page and that disclaimer were read. The model clauses were not audited.