Kimberly Alderman will be teaching Freelance Lawyering 101 at Solo Practice University®.
Kimberly Alderman is a lawyer, writer, and professor who has lived in Vermont, Alaska, the Virgin Islands, and New Mexico. In the course of her travels, Kimberly built up a thriving freelance law practice. She shares the insight gained from her experience in her SPU course, Freelance Lawyering 101, and her new book, The Freelance Lawyering Manual: What Every Lawyer Needs to Know About the New Temporary Attorney Market.
Alderman is also an expert on the law pertaining to ancient and historical objects and sites. She has appeared across the country to speak on cultural property issues, and has been interviewed by NPR, BBC, and The Art Newspaper. She teaches at the University of Wisconsin Law School and maintains Cultural Property & Archaeology Law, an online legal resource about current issues in cultural property law.
Syllabus – Freelance Lawyering 101
How to Build and Run a Freelance Lawyering Business
This course is for lawyers who want to work for other lawyers on a temporary, freelance basis. The benefits of this kind of arrangement are numerous: you can keep a flexible schedule, you can run a business with little to no overhead, and you can take as little or as much work as you want. There is, however, a shroud of mystery around how freelance operations work. Freelance Lawyering provides practical advice on building and running a freelance lawyering business. Topics covered include rate-setting, billing methods, ethical considerations, client relations, overcoming stigmas, and keeping yourself marketable.
Taught in six 1-hour classes.
Class 1: Risks and Rewards
Objective: To give an accurate picture of freelance lawyering, and to allow potential freelancers to judge whether this is something they want to do before putting time and resources into trying.
Class 2: Getting Started
Objectives: To give course participants details on what tools are and are not essential to begin freelance lawyering, and to provide information and resources to enable participants to move forward in starting a freelance lawyering business.
Class 3: Services
Objectives: To give course participants information about what kinds of services they might wish to provide, to explain how the process can or should work, and to provide resources that enable them to provide services successfully.
Class 4: Finances & Billing
Objectives: To give course participants details on dealing with payment issues (billing systems, receiving payments, non-paying clients) and managing the finances of a freelance lawyering business.
Class 5: Legal & Ethical Concerns
Objectives: To address legal and ethical concerns in freelance lawyering and will give course participants a roadmap as to how to address these concerns.
Class 6: Getting and Keeping Attorney Clients
Objectives: To give course participants the requisite knowledge to market freelance services, manage an online presence, maximize client satisfaction, and maintain work/life balance.
