What are the benefits of utilising an LPM?
- Project management skills. Lawyers aren’t trained in project management - they can be focused on the detail and the end goal but not how to get there efficiently. LPMs can help define, scope and plan effectively, allowing lawyers to concentrate law.
- Team working and efficiency. Ability to get key stakeholders around the table and ensure cases are planned, delivered and closed effectively. Prevents siloed, inefficient and expensive working.
- Client and firm relationship. Preventing a disconnect between the client and the firm. Feedback suggests LPMs can provide a closer relationship between the firm and clients. and they want to be updated throughout. A 2017 survey found that clients felt that they had poor visibility into the work being done by firms. Leading cause of complaint by clients is poor communication.
- Value for money. Highlights to a client that the firm is taking a matter seriously by using an LPM. Clients want to know how much a matter will cost them. 30% of lawyers believed they offered excellent value for money whilst only 8% of clients agreed.
- Risks and learning. Better identification and control of risks to both the matter and the firm as well as capturing lessons learned for the next matter.
What is an LPM?
The application of concepts of project management to legal cases.
LPM is not about the practice of law but the mechanics of practice.
So the operational delivery of dealing with matters for a client in an effective and timely way using a framework:
- Define
- Plan
- Deliver
- Close
What are the challenges facing LPMs?
International institute of legal project management survey found that from a survey of existing LPMs, the following were the main challenges:
- Poor understanding of what LPMs can bring to the role.
- Not allowing LPMs in early enough
- Demonstrating the value of an LPM
In order to tackle these challenges:
- Talk through process
- Highlight that LPMs are not a threat to lawyers
- Explain benefits to LPM and risks of not using LPM
- Use past experience where LPM role has benefited
- Identify key areas of their matter where it could be useful
- Show data that demonstrates potential savings compared to when LPMs weren’t used
- Word of mouth
How will you convince someone to engage an LPM?
- Talk through the process
- Highlight that LPMs are not a threat to lawyers
- Explain benefits of using an LPM
- Explain risks of not using an LPM
- Draw on past experience where the LPM role has really benefited
- Identify key areas of their matter where it could be useful
- Put them in touch with others that have used an LPM
- Show data that demonstrates potential savings compared to when LPM aren’t used
How would you prepare for a kick off meeting?
Objective - what we are trying to achieve? What does good look like?
Priority - is this a team priority (consider risk, effort, urgency and strategic alignment)?
Knowledge - have we done something similar before?
Once we have answered the above:
1. How big is the matter? 2. How long will it last? 3. Who are the stakeholders? 3. How much will it cost the client? 4. How many people will need to work on the matter? 5. What tasks need to be done? 6. Who needs to be doing each task? 7. Have we done similar before? 9. How will we track and communicate progress?
What are the key activities of an LPM?
- Define
- Plan
- Deliver
- Close matters
- Help define and scope matters
- Run matter kick off meetings
- Track progress of work
- Track costs
- Collate and distribute status reports
- Act as primary point of contact for all operational issues
- Manage multiple matters
- Problem solve
How will you decide which stakeholders to influence?
Influence/interest matrix
You can’t spend equal amount of time on all as some are more important than others
Using the influence/interest matrix - you can work out how much effort you need to out into each stakeholder
Why do you want to be an LPM?
16 years in policing
Promoted very quickly and climbed the ranks
Youngest chief inspector in my force of 4000 police officers
But motivation has changed - no longer motivated by policing and crime
Instead motivated by projects - seeing end result
Looked at project manager roles
But then came across LPM role and felt that my transferrable skills
I feel that i can bring something to the role
Specifically LPM at Bird and Bird…
How do you define and assess risk?
Risk is the effect of uncertainty on objectives
Similar to the way in which I have been around risk all my policing career.
Mainly around threats to life - very likely to unlikely
Minor impact to major impact
What type of risks are there in a matter?
File management
Conflict of interests
Managing critical dates and timelines
Costs disputes
Cybersecurity and online service platforms
Self-management
How do you deal with risk?
- Identify – brainstorm as a team during meeting
- Assess likelihood and impact – TTL style
- Prioritise – rank risks
- Plan responses – mitigate and recover
- Take action
- Review
How do you define a matter and why?
If not defined properly, next steps will fail.
Every matter is different.
Each one doesn’t need the same LPM support.
So needs to be adapted
Whilst each one is different, there are phases that can be used to help guide us through it
Key operational questions to ask and understand at the beginning to define and scope the matter
1. How big is the matter? 2. How long will it last? 3. How much will it cost the client? 4. How many people will need to work on the matter? 5. What tasks need to be done? 6. Who needs to be doing each task? 7. Have we done similar before?
- risks
- comms plan
How do you plan a project?
Liaise with legal service delivery team
Legal matter schedule
Break down matter into phases – Gantt chart
Supplement PDD with supporting documents
How do you deliver a project?
Assign tasks to team members
Track costs – mostly staff – challenge getting lawyers to record stuff
Three elements to schedule monitoring process to see whether work:
- Has been done and done properly
- Has been done within agreed timescales
- Done so far at agreed cost
Need honesty and transparency from entire legal services delivery team
If running behind, highlight it in regular project update report and how can PM bring it back on schedule?
PM should be empowered to take immediate action
Complete project reports to stakeholders
How do you close a project?
Get sign off from client
Review whether objectives were met
Is everyone satisfied with time, scope and quality
De-brief
Main issues, what worked well, what would we do differently next time
