I believe that The Complete Guide to Contract Lawyering by Deborah Arron and Deborah Guyol (3d ed. 2004) was the first book to address this subject (while “contract lawyering” appears in the title, the book addresses what lawyers in the field today refer to as freelance lawyering).

Additionally, from 2008 through 2011, I offered an e-book called Contract Lawyering Success through my coaching/consulting practice, Legal Research and Writing Pro (http://legalresearchandwritingpro.com). The e-book consisted of a brief discussion of many of the subjects covered by Kimberly’s book, along with reprinted ethics opinions from around the country that are relevant to freelance lawyers and hiring attorneys. The e-book was accompanied by a sample services agreement and a recorded teleseminar called Freelance Freedom: How to Get Started as an Independent Contract Lawyer that covered all of the subjects addressed in The Freelance Lawyering Manual.

Currently, I share my knowledge with prospective freelance attorneys in a 2.5-hr video recording of an updated (November 2011) Freelance Freedom presentation. The recording is accompanied by a sample services agreement and a significantly expanded compilation of relevant ethics opinions. Since 2010, my free 10-page guide, “Associates? I Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Associates! Why Solos and Small Law Firms Should Work With Contract Lawyers and How to Do It” has been available to prospective hiring attorneys at my website.

Finally, I note that Kimberly and I disagree concerning the appropriateness of hiring a freelance attorney to perform work in a substantive area of law in which the hiring attorney lacks expertise. Briefly, under the current Model Rules, an outsourcing lawyer has a duty to make reasonable efforts to ensure that a nonfirm lawyer conforms to the Rules of Professional Conduct, which impose a duty of competence. In my view, a lawyer who does not practice in a substantive area cannot adequately supervise even a licensed freelance attorney’s work in that practice area. Kimberly, on the other hand, believes that precautions can be put in place and procedures followed that ensure the competent practice of law, even while working with freelancers with a broader body of knowledge than the hiring attorneys. You can find a more detailed discussion of this issue in the comments to Bob Ambrogi’s review of Kimberly’s book, at http://is.gd/IC9CgQ.