This is not legal advice. Foundry PC is not a law firm.
Founders ask us the same first question on nearly every call: what is this going to cost? The honest answer is that it depends on how many states, which states, and who does the work. But "it depends" isn't useful, so here's the range we've seen across the healthcare law firms we've taken through discovery, plus a breakdown of what drives it.
The range
For a single-state MSO-PC structure with a full document suite, quotes from boutique healthcare firms cluster between roughly $5,000 and $10,000 in legal fees. Mid-size regional firms tend to land between $10,000 and $15,000. Large national firms have quoted $18,000 to $21,000 or more for the same scope.
For a near-50-state build using a super PC, add a one-time eligibility review (often $3,500 to $5,000) plus per-state foreign qualification work, and the total typically lands between $15,000 and $30,000 in legal fees depending on how many "hard" states are on the list.
The same deliverable can cost 4x more depending on the firm. That's not because the expensive firm's documents are 4x better. It's billing rate, overhead, and how much of the work is templated.
What's actually in the quote
A complete formation engagement usually includes:
- Entity formation. Filing the PC (or PLLC, depending on state) and, if needed, the MSO. Filing fees are passed through at cost, typically $100 to $500 per state.
- Foreign qualification. Registering the PC to do business in additional states. Routine states are often $300 to $400 in legal fees each; complex states like New York or California can run $750 to $1,000 or require a separate domestic entity.
- The document suite. Management services agreement, stock transfer restriction or continuity agreement, physician owner agreement, business associate agreement, and provider employment or independent contractor templates. This is the bulk of the legal value.
- Management fee analysis. Some firms include a fair-market-value review of the MSO fee; some do it per client; some skip it. Ask.
- Registered agent. Usually $100 to $300 per state per year, passed through.
Things that are almost always extra: negotiation with a physician's own counsel (typically hourly, $400 to $500), payer enrollment, licensing support, and state-specific overlays for Oregon or California.
Where founders overpay
- Paying a national firm to fill in a template. If your structure is standard, a boutique healthcare firm will produce the same documents at a fraction of the rate.
- Foreign-qualifying into states that require a domestic entity anyway. Utah, New York, California, and several others won't accept a foreign professional corporation. Paying for a foreign qualification that gets rejected costs time and money.
- Buying 50 states on day one. Most companies need 3 to 8 states at launch. Build for those, and set up a path to add states at a known per-state cost.
- Not asking about ongoing fees. Some firms charge annual "compliance" retainers. Know what you're committing to.
The physician owner is a separate line
Legal fees are one-time. The physician PC owner is ongoing. Fair-market stipends for a friendly physician owner typically run from around $1,250 per month for a single-state or small footprint to $2,750 or more per month for a 30 to 50-state footprint, with premiums for specialties like psychiatry. Collaborating physician or medical director services for NP-led practices are priced separately, often per provider supervised.
Budget for this from month one. It doesn't stop.
How Foundry PC prices
We publish our pricing because we think the market has been opaque for too long. Our one-time packages bundle Foundry's setup, physician matching, project management, and document templates. Legal work is performed by independent healthcare counsel you engage directly at their published flat rates, which we've negotiated to be among the lowest we've seen for this scope. Monthly fees cover the physician owner or collaborating physician stipend plus ongoing coordination.
A typical single-state formation with a matched physician owner runs under $10,000 one-time plus a monthly stipend. A multi-state or 50-state build is quoted based on the specific state list.
Book a 20-minute call and we'll give you a written quote with every line broken out.