Consulting

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Most of this page is about Consulting from the consultant's perspective. However, it's equally important to help clients select and engage the right consultant. With that in mind, the people of TechSoup[1] have an article "How to Choose and Work with Technology Consultants" Figuring out what your nonprofit needs and how much it will cost.

Getting Started[edit]

  1. Step-by-Step Guide to Starting a Software Company (Legally)
  2. Becoming a Contract Programmer in Canada
  3. Starting a Web Development Agency in Canada

Who[edit]

Who provides good guidance and legal advice in this subject?

  1. Heather Meeker has long been visible in the open source world.
  2. Addison Cameron-Huff in Toronto (great blog, developer and lawyer, blockchain aware)
  3. http://rosskimbarovsky.com/contracts-for-software-and-website-developers.pdf Ross Kimbarovsky offers an annotated PDF, but it's nothing extraordinary.

Online[edit]

  1. https://network.bepress.com/law/computer-law/
  2. http://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1927&context=fac_pubs
  3. Justin C. Colannino, Free and Open Source Software in Municipal Procurement:The Challenges and Benefits of Cooperation, 39 Fordham Urb. L.J. 903 (2012)
  4. Surprisingly, PandaDoc seems to have a fairly decent online template for a Independent (Sub)Contractor Agreement https://www.pandadoc.com/subcontractor-agreement-template/

in Print[edit]

  1. Legal Guide to Web & Software Development (book with CD-Rom) 5th Edition by Stephen Fishman J.D. (Editor)
  2. Working for Yourself Law & Taxes for Independent Contractors, Freelancers & Consultants Stephen Fishman, J.D. February 2014, 9th Edition
  3. Software Licensing Handbook 1st Edition by Jeffrey I. Gordon
  4. A Practical Guide to Software Licensing for Licensees and Licensors: Model Forms and Annotations (Practical Guide to Software Licensing for Licensees & Licensors) 2nd Edition by Ward H. Classen
  5. The Tech Contracts Pocket Guide: Software and Services Agreements for Salespeople, Contract Managers, Business Developers, and Lawyers 0th Edition by David Tollen

Negotiating[edit]

Listen
Listen to the other side - don't simply advance your own agenda. Understand what your client wants/needs
and WHY they believe they want/need it.
Educate
Many of your clients will have little experience with software development agreements. Take a little time
to educate them about milestones, warranties, and other important terms. You'll nearly always develop credibility
when you take the time to educate your prospective client, and this will help you when you negotiate those terms.
Agree
You should agree when you can. Many minor issues are not worth disagreement. Think about your client's
points from THEIR perspective and find ways to acknowledge their points and concerns.
Reframe
Whenever you can, find ways to reframe issues instead of rejecting them. If you reject something your
client proposes, you'll put them on the defensive. Find ways to reframe their ideas or points and to move the
conversation further. If you're not sure how to reframe something, ask your client to clarify and in that process, ask
questions that help you to reframe the conversation.
Know Your Limits
You should always know your walk-away position. In every negotiation, you'll have terms that
you can concede and others that you cannot. Understanding this in advance of the negotiation will help you to
better articulate your views and to avoid wasting a lot of time. Make such terms clear to your client but don't make
every point a deal.

If you're looking for good books about negotiation, I recommend: Getting To Yes and Getting Past No: Negotiating in Difficult Situations both by William Ury.

Creating a Non-profit Foundation[edit]

https://wiki.opensource.org/bin/Main/Projects/entities-wg/IRS+Ruling+Documentation/

Government Contracting[edit]

Let's start things off with "Government Contracting" is hard. It takes a lot of knowledge, experience and effort to become approved as a vendor for any given state or federal entity. Navigating the regulations and procedures is a specialty. Let's not even mention the TLAs[2]

For one, you need to become an authorized vendor (SAMe).

Using an existing Contract[edit]

Before employing an army of attorneys and business people to develop a contract with the Federal Government, it is almost certain that you should use an existing contract. For example, to provide services to NASA, there is the SEWP (Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement) - a GWAC (Government-Wide Acquisition Contract). Unfortunately, the SEWP 'competition' process is open for only a short time, and the list of 'Prime Contractors' is set for the next decade.[3]

Developing a Contract[edit]

You may need to develop/negotiate a contract. The eCFR[4] Title 48 Chapter 1 Subchapter C Part 16 lists the types of contracts.

In 2021, the Defense Dept., the General Services Administration (GSA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) ruled that the Micro-Purchase Threshold (MPT) would apply to Task and Delivery Orders. This adjusted Federal Aquisition Regulation (FAR) to harmonize with MPT (currently $10,000), increasing limits which previously were $2,500 or $3,500.[5]

Micro Purchases[edit]

For simple stuff, under the Government Purchase Card (GPC) program, a contractor (vendor) may supply goods and services to the purchasing government agency (buyer) with a simple invoice and receive credit card payment, without the need for a contract, as long as the dollar amount is a "micro purchase" (meaning under the Micro-Purchase Threshold (MPT) which stands at $10,000 for most goods and services in 2025)

To learn more about Micro Purchases, head over to the the Defense Aquisition University (DAU) 'acquipedia' page about the Government Purchase Card program


General Info[edit]

Osgood and Associates, headed by Dr. Deborah Osgood, offers a wealth of great resources and experience to draw from.


Govt. Contracting Resources[edit]

There is an entire industry to help you (lighten your wallet) in the pursuit of Federal and State dollars.

But that's because there is a big pot of money to chase

Independent Contractor Rights[edit]

  1.  Right to a Contract
  2.  Right to Control
  3.  Right to Make Decisions
  4.  Right to Work When You Want
  5.  Right to Work Where You Want
  6.  Right to Advertise
  7.  Right to Receive Payment
  8.  Right to Work with Other Contractors
  9.  Right to Challenge Your Employment Status
  10.  Right to Manage Your Own Business

as explained at https://www.stonesalluslaw.com/business-law/independent-contractor-rights/


References[edit]

  1. ↑ part of the TechSoup Global Network which is 65 of the world's leading civil society organizations who endeavor to improve lives globally through the use of technology. It's large vendor and enterprise nature, so it's not exactly a social movement but rather something to be aware of. For example, they have a program to help you move from local network to managed cloud services. While that is mostly an appropriate strategy, it also entails risks and certainly trade-offs. Thus, it's not the right thing in all cases.
  2. ↑ Definitions of Words and Terms in the Federal Acquisition Regulations
  3. ↑ https://sewpprod.servicenowservices.com/support?id=kb_article_view&sys_kb_id=693d8bb18716e21070b60e950cbb354ek
  4. ↑ The Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR) provides a way of exploring the Code of Federal Regulations as it exists today and at points in time back to January 2017. The eCFR allows you to:
    • browse the Code of Federal Regulations as it existed at any point in time
    • compare the regulations as they existed on any two dates
    • view a timeline of how the CFR content has changed
    • search for specific terms
    • subscribe to changes in the regulations
    The eCFR is not an official legal edition of the CFR. Understanding the eCFR explains its status and the editorial process.
    Code of Federal Regulations
    The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the departments and agencies of the Federal Government. It is divided into 50 titles representing broad areas subject to federal regulation.
    The Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR) is a continuously updated online version of the CFR and provides enhanced features that are not part of the published CFR
  5. ↑ https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/06/10/2021-11864/federal-acquisition-regulation-application-of-micro-purchase-threshold-to-task-and-delivery-orders

Portable Document Format = a widely used standard for representing documents electronically and print. PDF

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