SMB Law Group vs BakerHostetler (Search Funds Practice)

Side by Side

Attribute	SMB Law Group	BakerHostetler
What It Is	A nationwide M&A law firm built specifically for small business acquisitions, representing searchers, sponsors, and investors, with a dedicated 'Main Street Express' offering for sub-$1M deals and fractional general counsel post-close.	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.
Category	Legal	Legal
Pricing Model	Custom Pricing	Custom Pricing
What It Costs	No pricing published: the site claims 'transparent fees' but lists no figures; engagements are quoted on contact. Main Street Express targets sub-$1M purchases (verified on smblaw.group).	Engagement-priced big-law rates; no fee schedule published. Budget accordingly against flat-fee searcher-focused shops.
Best For	Searchers who want counsel that does SMB deals all day instead of adapting big-firm M&A habits to a $1.5M purchase	Traditional and larger self-funded searchers whose deal size, investor base, or complexity justifies institutional counsel
Where It Fits	Source & Screen Deals, Diligence & Close the Deal, Operate & Grow the Business	Diligence & Close the Deal
Our Verdict	The default shortlist for searcher deal counsel; just get the fee quote early, since pricing isn't public.	The institutional option: right when your deal or cap table outgrows a boutique, oversized for a typical first SBA acquisition.
Pros	ETA-native: represents searchers, sponsors, and PE nationwide, with $0.5B+ in deals closed since 2022 and a 350th-transaction milestone Sub-$1M deals get a purpose-built product (Main Street Express) instead of being unprofitable afterthoughts Deep community presence and free resources, including a 2026 LOI template built from 500+ transaction outcomes	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	No published pricing despite the 'transparent fees' language; you must ask Most visible reviews are testimonials on their own properties; independent reviews are scarce	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 SMB Law Group when the deal is a main-street purchase and you want counsel that does nothing else: it runs a purpose-built track for sub-$1M deals rather than adapting large-firm habits down to them.

Choose BakerHostetler when the size, the investor base, or the structure justifies institutional counsel, and you would rather scope the engagement tightly than have a small deal over-lawyered.