Neither is paying their legal fees out of the ordinary. Doesn't necessarily make it right. I don't think there's any good reason a company should pay board members travel expenses.
Board member travel expenses makes sense because you are extracting value of their interactions (assuming they are working as they are supposed to), since they are part of your board.
Legal fees for investor related actions don't benefit the company at all unless they happen before the checks are signed.
This is an odd kind of adversarial stance to take with your Board. Not all of your board members are necessarily VC's either. You might have a solid advisor on your board.
If everyone is up-front about the legal fees, what does it matter?
The legal fees are paid after receiving the investment. If you negotiate for a pre-money valuation, and the terms require you to pay the legal fees, you simply take it out of the valuation.
The VCs can offer slightly more money and have the company pay the legal fees, or offer slightly less and the VC can pay the legal fees. There is no difference between these two things.
"The legal fees are paid after receiving the investment"
May be the case, but unless you can negotiate a deal with your law firm that the fees are contingent on closing, if the deal falls apart you've still got the legal fees to pay, and no investment cash to pay them with.
