California LLC formation with an attorney — at a flat fee.

Who this is for

Three groups consistently get value out of attorney-drafted formation: solo California business owners forming an LLC for the first time (consultants, real estate investors, online businesses, single-property landlords); multi-member LLCs forming with co-founders, partners, or family ventures; and existing LLCs replacing the template operating agreement that came with their filing service.

Three groups should look elsewhere: operations primarily based outside California (form there with local counsel); LLCs raising outside investment from non-accredited investors (you need a securities attorney); and bargain hunters shopping for the cheapest possible filing ($70 + a $99 platform is your better fit).

What attorney-assisted formation actually means

Most filing services pull a 50-state template from a database and submit. The output looks like an LLC. For some businesses, that's enough. Attorney-assisted formation is different in five concrete ways:

1. Real attorney review of your specific situation

Before drafting, we review your intake. A multi-member LLC where one partner contributes cash and another contributes time needs a different operating agreement than two equal partners with equal capital. Templates can't make that distinction.

2. California-specific documents

California's Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act (RULLCA) has its own default rules — fiduciary duties, management structure, dispute resolution. Fifty-state templates either ignore those rules or layer defensive language that doesn't fit how California actually works.

3. Tax-timing guidance for your formation year

California's $800 annual franchise tax has narrow first-year exemptions that depend on when and how you form. Forming in November versus January can be the difference between owing $800 immediately and owing nothing for 12+ months.

4. Plain-English explanations of what you're signing

Operating agreements run 15–30 pages. During the consultation and in the post-formation summary memo, you get explanations in language you can use — not just signatures on documents you don't understand.

5. A real point of contact when something changes

If you add a partner, lose one, sell the business, or get a demand letter two years from now, you have an attorney who already understands the structure. That's not nothing.

The process, start to finish

Step 1 — Pick a package or book a 15-minute call. Single-member formations can checkout directly. Multi-member matters start with a short discovery call so we can run conflicts and confirm fit.

Step 2 — Confidential intake. After payment (or after the discovery call for multi-member), you fill out a structured intake — entity name, members, contributions, management preference, principal address, registered agent. We follow up if anything needs clarifying.

Step 3 — Drafting and filings. We file the Articles of Organization (LLC-1) with the California Secretary of State, file the initial Statement of Information (LLC-12), procure your EIN from the IRS, and draft your California-specific operating agreement.

Step 4 — Review call. 30 to 90 minutes depending on the package. We walk through every operative provision in your operating agreement, answer questions, and flag anything you should know about ongoing compliance.

Step 5 — Post-formation summary. A plain-language memo: what you have, what to do next, what to expect (FTB calendar, BOI reporting under the Corporate Transparency Act, banking and EIN coordination).

Why not just do it yourself?

An honest answer: sometimes you should. If you're a true solopreneur with no partners, no real assets, and no plan to bring partners in later, a filing service plus a template operating agreement may be enough. We won't take an engagement we can't honestly justify.

Where attorney work earns its fee:

Multi-member LLCs. Two or more people sharing ownership creates dispute scenarios that template operating agreements don't anticipate. We see those disputes on the litigation side of the practice. Spending $1,995 on attorney drafting is materially cheaper than spending $40,000 litigating a buyout dispute.

Real assets at stake. Real estate, intellectual property, significant capital — the cost of getting the entity structure wrong is more than the cost of getting it right.

California-specific complexity. Manager-managed structures, vesting schedules, contribution-based allocations, deadlock resolution. California allows a lot of flexibility; templates don't capture it.

If you're not sure which side of the line you're on, the discovery call costs nothing and tells you honestly.

What's not included in any package

Across all three formation tiers, none of the following are included. We'll either refer or quote them as separate engagements:

Tax advice. Entity-tax classification (S-corp election, partnership taxation), tax planning, and tax filings. We coordinate with your CPA but don't replace one.

Securities work. Capital raises, accredited-investor offerings, PPMs. Refer to a securities attorney.

Litigation. If your LLC has an active dispute, threatened lawsuit, or pending litigation, that's a separate phase-priced engagement, not a transactional formation matter.

Trademark or IP filings. Trademark searches and applications go to an IP attorney. We can handle IP assignment agreements between members or from founders into the LLC.

Registered agent service. We don't offer it. Use Northwest Registered Agent or a similar national provider.

California state filing fees

Quoted separately from the attorney fee, every time, on every page that mentions price (Cal RPC 7.1). Baseline: $70 Articles of Organization + $20 Initial Statement of Information = $90 paid to the California Secretary of State at formation. Recurring: $20 biennial Statement of Information + $800 annual California FTB franchise tax regardless of revenue. The $800 franchise tax is the most important external cost to understand — it lands every year your LLC exists, even if the business is dormant.