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Legal Project Management is the cover story of the summer issue of the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association's quarterly publication CCCA Magazine.[1] In this feature, Michael Rappaport shares legal project management insights gleaned from lawyers from a number of Canadian and U.S. corporations and law firms, as well as a number of legal project management experts, some of whom have been discussed on this blog in the past:Brian Armstrong, Exec. V.P. and General Counsel of Bruce PowerMarc-André Blanchard, Chair and CEO of McCarthy Tétrault LLP [2]Darryl Cruz, Partner at McCarthy Tétrault LLPMichael Fekete, Partner, Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLPSteven Levy, Principal of Lexician [3]Joachin...

An elderly citizen needs help crossing the street. Develop a time and cost estimate for this task and calculate the earned value of your progress as you cross the road.Sorry, I couldn't resist. But it is true that the Boy and Girl Scouts of the United States are considering adding a project-management Merit Badge. The PMI Educational Foundation (PMIEF) is looking for volunteers to help with this. In particular, they would like you or your children to share ideas that help demonstrate why a project-management Merit Badge is "a fun, engaging, exciting, age appropriate concept for youth."I'm sure some...

I just learned through a post on Rick Morris's Project Management That Works! blog that Rita Mulcahy (@Rita_Mulcahy), a pioneer in Project Management education, passed away on May 15th after a long struggle with breast cancer. Like so many others, I used Rita's materials to prepare for the PMP exam and followed her on Twitter.  Her obituary was published in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, but read the announcement posted on Rick Morris's blog about this incredible woman who was given several months to live after being diagnosed with cancer in 2005, but fought on for five more years, authoring five best-selling books, while delivering classes...

Gregory Balestrero, the President and CEO of the Project Management Institute has announced plans to retire so he can spend more time with his family. An e-mail announcement was sent out to all PMI volunteers yesterday, but it was filtered to my "to read" folder (newsletters don't go to my inbox), so I first learn about this from Rita Mulcahy (@Rita_Mulcahy) via Twitter.A couldn't find any announcements on the PMI Web site or anywhere else, so for those who are interested, here is a copy of the e-mail announcement: Dear PMI Volunteer Leader:It's been my honor and privilege to serve...

UPDATE (2010-04-06): the first call for volunteers has closed, but please do e-mail me if you are interested. Once the Steering Committee is formed and the Community site is launched we'll be looking for additional subject-matter experts and general members to assist in getting this Community off to a good start.I've been working with the Project Management Institute on establishing a new "Community of Practice" and recently was informed that the project has received the green light. What excites me about this is that this Community, dedicated to the management of legal projects, will have the backing of PMI, one of...

Steven Levy, principal at Lexician, blawger, and frequent commenter on this blog, has a book coming out, titled: Legal Project Management: Control Costs, Meet Schedules, Manage Risks, and Maintain Sanity. It will be published by Day Pack Books and will be available by the end of this month for $29.95 on Amazon.com. This is the first book that I'm aware of that is specifically focused on the topic of legal project management and I'm excited to get my hands on a copy. There is no way to pre-order at this time, that I'm aware of, but I'll be sure to...

Those of us who promote better project management in the practice of law sooner or later stumble into the debate over whether project management is a transplant from the business world that will eventually sap the professionalism out of law.  Is running a law firm like a business antithetical to law as an honorable profession? Last week the ABA Journal's News blog published a post about William Lancaste, a Seyfarth Shaw partner who is suing the firm after they demoted him to non-equity status. Mr. Lancaste claims that although he had a productive practice, he was a victim of the firm...

Yep, there's a day for that. In case you missed it, yesterday was International Project Management Day: http://www.internationalpmday.org/Well...if you are in New York, Louisiana, North Dakota, or Colorado (USA) then it was November 1st.If you are in Arkansas (USA), it was on November 2nd.If you are in Arizona or Michigan, you get a whole week to celebrate project management. November 1-8 for Arizon and October 30-November 6 for Michigan. For an "international" holiday, it seems to be mostly recognized in the United States, at least seven of the 50 states. A number of large corporations and PMI chapters around the world have, however,...

I just came across an Indian Express article from January, which states:If the Union Law and Justice Ministry has its way, the Indian judiciary will soon adopt the Six Sigma concept to improve its efficiency.  ...  A concept paper in this regard prepared by Union Law Secretary T K Vishwanathan, which will be sent to the Chief Justice of India, contains many other recommendations to speed up the judicial process and make the judiciary more transparent and accountable. All this, ministry sources say, will be implemented if the CJI puts his stamp of approval and once the Rs 442-crore e-courts project, being implemented...