None of the content from this article or any other article on this blog should be taken as legal advice. If you have a situation that does require professional legal advice, please seek legal counsel.
The following are some tips from my own personal experience working in and around startups. Clearly, your situation is different, but I have found that there are often "patterns" in early-stage startups. These tips are written from the basis of an early-stage startup with just one or two founders. It's based on startups in the U.S. (I've never started a company anywhere else). It's not meant to be exhaustive or detailed, but to just provide some of the core elements that startups usually consider when contemplating whether or not they need to hire a lawyer.
Full Story: http://onstartups.com/home/tabid/3339/bid/3214/Startup-Lawyers-When-Can-You-Do-It-Yourself.aspx