What are some advantages to having a lawyer for a new LLC?

Many people use quick start up kits available online or through services or to start an LLC-- which technically can get you where you want to be-- which is LLC status.  The problem is that many of the forms are standardized and many owners don't think about the significance of the articles of incorporation before they sign them. For example, many sign LLC paperwork that includes "fifty-fifty" dissolution of the company should the owners decide to end the LLC.  If both owners contributed the same to the creation of the company, this is not a problem.  But is one owner contributed significantly more, he would want dissolution procedures that provided for a greater disbursement of the LLC's resources to compensate for his initial investment.  The LLC paperwork also sets out who can do what-- including who can bind the company to certain debts or handle accounts.  Many new companies hit disaster when one partner accumulates a large amount of debt without notifying the other partner. 

Basically, the LLC paperwork is the rulebook for how the company will begin, how it will be run, and how it will end.  If you don't have clear paperwork that sets each of these out, you could be giving away valuable rights as an owner of a company after its incorporation.

It will cost you a bit on the front end to spend some time with an attorney discussing these issues, but it often saves a ton of grief on the backend should the company go south.