It look's like one of The Posse List's predictions for 2010 is proving is coming true: e-discovery project management is becoming a serious career choice. According a survey by The Cowen Group, a litigation-support staffing agency, the e-discovery job market is heating up.[1] E-discovery project managers are in particular demand:
The Project Manager will gain greater prominence in the industry due to the increasing size of datasets and heightened concern around controlling cost, limiting risks, and guaranteeing outcomes.Managers of legal technology departments from 160 organizations (78 law firms, 47 corporate legal departments, and 35 vendors) responded to The Cowen Group's survey. They expect to fill a total of 50 project management positions within the next six month, making it the second most in-demand e-discovery position (after e-discovery technician). Of these 50 positions:
- 8 are corporate law department positions;
- 25 are law firm positions; and
- 17 are vendor positions.
Salary and job requirements are not discussed in the survey, but looking at the current positions listed on the The Cowen Group's job board, salaries for legal project managers run 80,000 to 100,000 per year (even a project coordinator position, which takes direction from project managers lists a salary of 95,000 with overtime). No all positions list location, but they tend to be in places like New York and Washington, DC. Salaries are obviously going to be lower in locations with a lower cost of living.
The main points I take away from reading over the education, experience, and skills requirements are:
- You needn't be a lawyer. At most a college degree is required, though some will allow "equivalent" experience to make up for lack of a college degree. Note that some "E-discovery Manager" positions state that a JD would be "helpful." These positions are something like project portfolio managers, who oversee and advise the project managers, and pay around 150,000 to 225,000.
- You needn't be certified. Not one of these positions that I looked at listed project-management certification as a requirement or even a nice-to-have. Unlike other industries, law firms and corporate legal departments don't give a damn about your CAPM or PMP (yet--I predict that, for better or worse, this will change as law firms, legal staffing agencies, and litigation-support vendors continue to look for ways to market their project-management services; other's have come to the same conclusion).
- Experience Above All Else. Wow, a potential six-figure salary and you don't need to have graduated from college nor be licensed or certified in anything! Well, before you fire off your resume, you better look at the experience requirements. Most require a minimum of three to five years of experience. Not just project management experience, but experience managing e-discovery projects. They all expect you to be proficient in e-discovery technologies and processes. The e-discovery project manager is an unusual bird living an a niche that borders two extremely different ecosystems: law and IT.
Some positions emphasize technical skills. Others place a high value on understanding of e-discovery law and legal procedure. But you cannot effectively manage e-discovery projects without a good dollop of understanding from both of these knowledge buckets. I've written before on the on-going discussion on the importance of tech vs. legal expertise in LPM, for example, see here and here. - Long and Irregular Hours. Most e-discovery project-management positions require working long hours. You'll need to be on-call at all hours and will need to be flexible with your personal schedule. You see a lot of phrases like the following in e-discovery project-management positions:
- "Flexibility to work additional hours, weekends and/or holidays as needed."
- "Ability to work additional time in order to perform the essential duties of the position; may require irregular hours."
If you need to be home for the 6-o'clock news and don't want to be tethered to a blackberry all the time, you shouldn't work as an e-discovery project manager. Six-figure incomes come with sacrifice. Actually, any income made in the legal arena come with heavy demands on your time. - Communication and Client Service is Key. Technologically gifted troglodytes do not make good project managers. You may have expertise in a page-long list of e-discovery applications and have a deep understanding of the processes in every stage of the EDRM, but you must also communicate effectively to succeed as a project manager.
- Microsoft Project Is Never Listed. E-discovery project management positions list a lot of software applicants must be proficient in. Microsoft Project, or any project management software, is not among those listed. A small point, perhaps, but it is another example of how project managers from other industries who want to break into legal project management can't assume that their experience and skills will be seen as transferable by those doing the hiring.
To read the entire survey results and look for e-discovery project management jobs, visit The Cowen Group's Web site. For other sources of LPM job listings, see my earlier post on the subject.
[1] The Cowen Group, Q1 Critical Trends, Jan. 16, 2010, available at http://www.cowengroup.com/researchcenter/quarterly/2010-Q1.php (last visited Apr. 16, 2010).
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