October 2009 Archives

The American Law Institute and American Bar Association (ALI-ABA) are offering a continuing legal education course on project management for lawyers.[1]  The Web cast, schedule for December 9th, will provide two hours of MCLE credit at a cost of 199 USD. The topics covered include:  Defining the Project So All Stakeholders Are on the Same Page Creating a Functional and Effective Project Plan Identifying, Organizing, and Scheduling Tasks Estimating How Long Various Tasks Should Take Setting Realistic Deadlines Keeping Projects on Track Closing Out Projects Including Creating Forms and Checklists for Use in Future Projects Analyzing Lessons Learned To Continually Improve Firm Processes [2]The instructor will be time-management-for-lawyers guru Margaret Spencer...

Law.com published a very interesting article by Gina Passarella today that discusses how firms are applying project and process management concepts to legal work.[1] What interested me most about this article was the description of how Seyfarth Shaw implemented Six Sigma and set up a legal project management office (LPMO).  I've written about Seyfarth Shaw's Six Sigma model ("Seyfarth Lean") in previous posts to this blog [2] and  Lisa Damon, Managing Partner at the Seyfarth Shaw's Boston office, was kind enough to take the time to provide more information on Seyfarth Lean with LPM's readers.What makes Passarella's article so interesting is its description of...

I just read a very interesting article by Richard Susskind (author of The End of Lawyers) on Law.com today.[1]  In it he discussed what he predicts will be the five types of corporate lawyers in the future. These are:expert trusted lawyer"[T]he provider of bespoke legal service." Predicted to become increasingly rare as legal servers are commoditized, but there will always be some occasions where it will be unavoidable.enhanced practitionerThis is the lawyer who will support the provision of "standardized,  systematized and (when in-house) packaged legal service." Again, the amount of such work in the future will be less than today....

One of the benefits of maintaining this blog is that it brings me into contact with experts in the fields of legal project management, legal process improvement, and legal technology. It is my stepladder to the shoulders of giants. Recently, I've started approaching members of the legal and legal support communities to ask them to share their views on legal project management. Most have been very encouraging and willing to speak with me.A while back I came across Baker Robbins & Company's Project Management for Litigation Clinic. It was exciting for me to see a two-day program devoted entirely...

In the current economic climate, it is prudent to find ways to distinguish yourself from your competition, whether you're a firm looking to gain and retain clients or a lawyer looking for a job. I've written in the past that attorney job seekers should highlight project management skills and experience. I have also created a "Careers" category on this blog as I expect that current changes in the legal industry will give me many more opportunities to write on this topic.In a post made last Friday to the Brooklyn Law School Library Blog, Reference Librarian and Adjunct Professor of Law, Harold...

Litigation support shops have increasingly been reinventing themselves as e-discovery consultants as much of the collection, processing, and hosting work becomes commoditized. Only a few, however, have emphasized project management as an area where they bring value. This always struck me as strange as most of the best legal project managers work in the litigation support bureaus. Until very recently, the litigation support bureau was one of the few environments where the unique skill set of legal project managers was valued and rewarded. I think this answers my question about why the support bureaus have not highlighted their project management expertise:...

Earlier today I attended a webcast hosted by the Association of Litigation Support Professionals (ALSP) titled Corporate Litigation Project Management & EDD. It was presented by John F. Mancini, president of the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM). Mancini discussed why corporations are taking control of the e-discovery process away from law firms and how litigation support professionals can better communicate with corporate stakeholders by understanding how they see e-discovery. As good as the presentation was, however, it was poorly titled. Mancini did not discuss project management. That said, he made a number of points that I feel are valuable for...

I've published a number of software reviews in the Technolawyer Community's TechnoFeature newsletter. My most recent review was of an early case assessment solution called "earlyCASE."  Since many (most?) readers of this blawg are involved with electronic discovery, my reviews of document review and early case assessment software should be of interest to many visitors. Below are links to my three most recent reviews.Review: earlyCASE (Easton-Early Case Review-TF 09-29-09.pdf)Review: Concordance 10 and E.L. Native Review for Concordance (Easton-Concordance10-TF 08-25-09.pdf)Review: Lexis Nexis Concordance 2007 (Easton-Concordance2007-TF 09-25-07.pdf)I've participated in the Technolawyer Community since, at least, late 2002. The new letters are...