Innovations in Legal Project Management

The organizational competence of project management provides a solid foundation for every activity conducted by a business and the practice of law. Legal project management (LPM) provides the discipline that enables lawyers and those who manage legal work - in law firms, law departments and alternate legal services providers - to define, demonstrate and deliver greater value by balancing the scope of work, time, and resources as they strive for optimal efficiency, outcomes and client satisfaction. Although many distinguish the business of law from the practice of law, innovators in legal project management take an integrated approach. In commercial and governmental settings, practicing law is not an academic exercise, nor an end in itself. Effective legal services address a client's business needs, opportunities and risk profile, and may also implicate public policy and legal precedent. The client experience is personal as well as professional. LPM provides a framework for meeting all these challenges. Innovations in Legal Project Management profiles those who have done the difficult work of harnessing the relevant aspects of legal project management as a strategy that is explicitly aligned to a law firm's or legal department's business objectives and culture. The authors describe communication strategies and techniques to train, coach and mentor those acquiring the skills to implement legal project management practices as a core aspect of the firm's business strategy, operations, quality legal services, and focus on the client experience. All the contributors to this book are professionals who continuously see around corners in improving the legal profession. They have created value for their firms, clients, and organizations; others have advanced the legal profession. They have systematically: - Used deep insights about particular clients to create new services and ways of doing things that impact the client's business goals; - Incrementally improved the speed, value (cost/margin), and quality/ benefits of the product or service they deliver; and/or - Relied on technology that is homegrown or highly customized to meet users' needs.

Auteur

AILEEN LEVENTON Aileen Leventon is a business counselor to the legal industry and a practicing lawyer with over 30 years of experience. She consults with law departments, law firms and individual lawyers on strategies to manage and sustain sound financial performance and continuously improve the efficiency of legal work. In addition to advising, coaching, and training, Aileen has facilitated numerous after-action reviews of closed matters to promote buy-in of legal project management techniques. She has also been embedded in ongoing matters to provide analysis and coaching to bring distressed matters back on course. MEREDITH WISE MENDES Meredith Wise Mendes is Jenner & Block's executive director and chief operating officer. Meredith provides strategic direction, financial analysis and operations management for all Jenner & Block offices. She has a long track record of creating top-line growth and increasing net income by driving innovation and efficiencies, metrics and process improvements, and implementing management tools that further the firm lawyers' ability to provide excellence in client service. Before joining Jenner & Block, Meredith was worldwide chief financial officer of Edelman, a global public relations firm, and chief financial officer of Medline Industries. She began her career practicing law in corporate and municipal finance, and is a sought-after speaker on topics including legal project management, technology and the law, and real estate management in professional services firms. RANDALL BRATER Randy Brater is a partner and commercial litigator at Arent Fox, who represents companies in the health care, life sciences, construction, food, fashion, and media and entertainment industries. He routinely litigates high-stakes matters in state and federal courts in cases involving the False Claims Act, trademark infringement, unfair competition, and other Lanham Act claims, and data compensation arbitrations arising under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). For the past several years, he has served as the project management task force leader at Arent Fox, overseeing projects in various practice areas designed to create effi ciencies with clients and foster accountability, communication, predictability, and transparency. KATIE HEILMAN Katie Heilman is an associate in Arent Fox's complex litigation group. Her practice focuses on ERISA and managed care litigation, environmental litigation and regulatory counseling, and fashion/retail law. She has been involved in litigation matters in state and federal court, as well as arbitrations, and is experienced in all phases of litigation, including discovery, depositions, motion practice, trial preparation, and appeals. Katie has counseled clients on regulatory compliance and litigation strategy in a wide range of industries, including fashion and luxury goods, real estate, health care, agriculture and biotechnology, media and entertainment, and hospitality. BYRON S KALOGEROU Byron S Kalogerou is a partner at McDermott Will & Emery LLP. He focuses his practice on domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and alliances. Byron spent 17 years in-house before returning to law firm life 14 years ago with a desire to bring his keen sense of the "voice of the customer" to drive predictability and efficiency into the M&A deal process. He is a pioneer in using legal project management and co-founded and co-heads the Task Force on Legal Project Management in M&A of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association, and served as co-editor of the ABA guidebook entitled Using Legal Project Management in Merger and Acquisition Transactions, now in its second edition. Byron also created the first-of-its-kind web-based collaborative deal management portal, which McDermott has adopted and embraced as the M&A Gateway. He regularly speaks on the topic of how using legal project management in M&A results in greater client satisfaction and retention. DENNIS J WHITE Dennis J White is senior counsel in the Boston office of Verrill Dana LLP, where his practice focuses on transactional matters, particularly mergers and acquisitions and on advising companies and directors regarding governance issues. Den co-founded and co-heads the Task Force on Legal Project Management in M&A of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association, and served as co-editor of the ABA guidebook entitled Using Legal Project Management in Merger and Acquisition Transactions. He is also a past chairman of the Global Board of Directors of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), an M&A trade association with more than 14,000 deal community members in over 50 chapters around the world. TODD HUTCHISON Todd Hutchison is an international bestselling author, global consultant and educator, and an adjunct associate professor in project management. He was formally a global board director of the Project Management Institute, and the inaugural Fellow of PMI in Australia, with over 30 years' experience in leading projects. Todd leads the global management consultancy and training group called Peopleistic, including the Peopleistic Legal PM division, and also holds adjunct positions with CQUniversity, Edith Cowan University and Curtin University. He has worked in over 150 organizations across 13 countries and is the chairman of the International Institute of Legal Project Management. THOMAS AGOSTINELLI Thomas Agostinelli serves as director of practice management at Butler Snow LLP, where he collaborates with practice group leaders to develop strategies to best serve the client and streamline business operations. His role also includes oversight of paraprofessionals, litigation support and project and process management within Butler Snow, …