Here are a few highly recommended sources for information on Agile contracting. I think every lawyer should read them before attempting to negotiate a contract with or on behalf of an Agile team :

Blog Articles

Alistair Cockburn, Humans and Technology Technical Report, HaT TR 2006.01, Sept 4, 2006 ) (part 3) (2006)

Start here: classic description and analysis of contracts in the Agile context.

Mike Cohn, Writing Contracts for Agile Development (2006)

An excellent explanation of how to re-task user stories as requirements that can be integrated into Statements of Work (and minimize disputes over change orders)

Peter Stevens, 10 Contracts for your next Agile Software Project (2009)

This is the “go-to” piece for understanding how contracting and Agile need reconciliation.

Chris _____, Billing with Integrity (part 1) (part 2) (part 3) (2009)

This is the “go-to” piece for understanding how contracting and Agile need reconciliation.

Presentations

Lars Thorup & Bent Jensen, “Experiments with Agile Contracts in the Real World” presented at Agile2009

Excellent discussion includes discussion of risk-balancing in the Agile context, particularly in the accompanying conference paper available from the Agile 2009 website. See also the presentation by Israel Gat, “Role of the Agile Leader in Reconfiguring the Business“

Simon Bennett, “The Prisoner’s Dilemma: Applying Game Theory to Agile Contracting” presented at Agile2009

Most lawyers learn about contract negotiations through the Nash/Prisoner’s Dilemma model. We think Agile gets around that model and this presentation describes strategies for conveying that benefit to clients.

Mary Poppendieck & Christine Moore, “Agile Development Conference: Salt Lake City, June 25-28” (2003)

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