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Barlow & Williams vs BakerHostetler (Search Funds Practice)

Side by Side

AttributeBarlow & WilliamsBakerHostetler
What It IsA boutique M&A law firm founded in 2021 that works flat-fee on almost every engagement, representing self-funded searchers, SBA buyers, and roll-up acquirers from LOI through close. Buy-side scope on its own pages runs from deal-structure conversations and LOI negotiation with unlimited revisions through legal due diligence and purchase-agreement drafting, and the firm publishes searcher-directed explainers alongside the practice.A dedicated search-fund and ETA practice inside an AmLaw-scale firm: deal counsel for search fund formations, acquisitions, and exits, with the team describing well over $1 billion of entrepreneurial transactions advised; Chicago-based partner Raam Jani leads.
CategoryLegalLegal
Pricing ModelCustom PricingCustom Pricing
What It CostsFlat-fee billing is stated plainly on the firm's own pages; the figures are not. Third-party coverage reports roughly $25,000 to $30,000 for a full SBA acquisition engagement, which we could not confirm on the firm's site, so treat that as directional and get the quote in writing.Engagement-priced big-law rates; no fee schedule published. Budget accordingly against flat-fee searcher-focused shops.
Best ForA searcher who wants budget certainty on legal from LOI to close, with counsel that works small acquisitions as its whole practice rather than as a sideline; the unlimited-revision LOI work suits buyers early in negotiation.Traditional and larger self-funded searchers whose deal size, investor base, or complexity justifies institutional counsel
Where It FitsSource & Screen Deals, Diligence & Close the Deal, Operate & Grow the BusinessDiligence & Close the Deal
Our VerdictA credible second flat-fee option for searcher legal work, worth a quote alongside the category's best-known firm; the comparison you want is scope and partner attention at the same fixed price.The institutional option: right when your deal or cap table outgrows a boutique, oversized for a typical first SBA acquisition.
Pros
  • Flat-fee on nearly every engagement, so legal cost is known before diligence starts spending money
  • M&A for small acquisitions is the entire practice, with searchers and roll-ups named as its core clients
  • Named partners with verifiable big-firm pedigrees, and a Chambers spotlight listing for third-party validation
  • One of the few large firms with a named, dedicated search-fund practice rather than generalist M&A
  • Depth across the whole lifecycle: formation, acquisition, and exit, which matters to investor-backed searches
  • Institutional bench for the issues small shops outsource (tax, benefits, IP, litigation)
Cons
  • The flat fees themselves are not published; the widely cited figure comes from third-party coverage, not the firm
  • A young firm (2021) with a small bench, so capacity and partner attention are worth asking about directly
  • Community-thread footprint is thinner than the category's best-known searcher firm; ask for searcher references
  • Big-law economics; small main-street deals can be over-lawyered here
  • No published pricing, so cost discipline depends on scoping the engagement up front
  • Less of the SBA-process hand-holding that self-funded first-timers need most

Our take

Choose Barlow & Williams when the deal is a straightforward SBA acquisition and the legal number has to be known before diligence starts. It bills flat fee on almost every engagement, stated plainly on its own pages, and that changes how a buyer behaves: an hourly bill makes a first-timer ask fewer questions in the month they should be asking more. Two caveats its own pages do not answer. The flat figures are not published, so the widely cited $25,000 to $30,000 for a full SBA engagement is third-party coverage rather than the firm. And it was founded in 2021 with a small bench, so ask who covers your deal if your lawyer is in a closing that week.

Choose BakerHostetler when the complexity is what you are buying counsel for rather than the closing: a fund formation with investors in it, a cross-border seller, an unusual structure, or a deal large enough that one missed provision costs more than a Main Street purchase spends on legal in total. Its attorneys describe well over $1 billion of acquisitions and exits, and the practice sits inside a firm with every specialism down the hall. It publishes no fee schedule and bills big-firm rates, so this comparison runs one way: you can budget one of these two before you start and not the other.