How to charge deal legal fees to a portfolio company - for a standard equity investment

Legal fees are sometimes reimbursed to lead investors in priced rounds with a cap, such as $25K for a Series A investment. Follow-on and other participating investors do not normally get expenses reimbursed. Angel, pre-seed, and seed rounds are commonly done with SAFE notes, and these lightweight agreements do not have any expense reimbursements associated with them.

Reimbursement of investor expenses related to a deal is normally agreed in the terms, often with a cap, and, after the investment is complete, a bill is submitted to the company for reimbursement according to the agreement. If there is not explicit agreement in writing, then there is not reimbursement.