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 Dixon. All-in-all it looks like it will provide a nice introduction to legal project management. I've listened to her audiotape programs in the past, so I'm confident that this lecture will be of high quality and I intend to register.
I'm not expecting this to be a standards-based course but rather a discusion of general principals of "project management" as the term is loosely defined.[3] Ms Dixon has made a name for herself by taking productivity and management knowledge and distilling it into concise, practical tips and tools, which lawyers can immediately apply to their practice and use to develop better work habits.
The fact that the ALI-ABA is presenting this MCLE program shows that legal project management is breaking into the mainstream. I'm looking forward to more high-quality CLE programs on legal project management.
For those of you unable to attend or wary of spending 200 bucks, the recordings and materials for these programs are generally available for purchase after the event. I'll post my full review of the program to this blog to help you decide whether or not it meets your needs.
I should note that Ms Dixon offers a more in-depth seminar that firms and corporate legal departments can use for in-house instruction. For more information on this program, visit her Web site: http://www.timemanagementforlawyers.com/project-management-seminar/
[1] ALI-ABA, Project Management for Lawyers, http://www.ali-aba.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=courses.course&course_code=CR603 (last visited Oct. 28, 2009).
[2] Id.
[3] Dixon defines "project management" as an:
organized, structured approach to the various steps necessary to manage any project effectively. These steps include defining what is to be achieved, breaking the project down into manageable phases, and scheduling tasks in logical sequences. This is how any complex project must be approached to stand the greatest chance of success.
Spencer Consulting, So Many Projects, So Little Time: Project Management for Lawyers, http://www.timemanagementforlawyers.com/project-management-seminar/ (last visited Oct. 28, 2009).
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