July 2010 Archives

Juicy bite-sized morsels of legal project management from the week ending Saturday, July 31, 2010. Steven Levy posted part 7 in his series on how to build a budget before you know the work involved on his Lexician blog. In this post he discussed two common strategies you should avoid: (1) guessing and (2) over promising, under delivering. In another post he discusses the importance of vision to project success.Beth Flynn of the Ohio State University Leadership Center discussed the effects of "energizers" and "sappers" on a team in guest post to David Bilinsky's Thoughtful Legal Management blog. Michael Hyatt discusses...

If there is some all-knowing, all-seeing deity out there entering my every step into the Book of Life, I wish said deity would give me access to its pages now and then to assist with my time entry duties. The money I spent, time I labored, and pain I endured in testing, configuring, and managing time-tracking systems should have earned me such a boon. Tracking time is a necessary evil for Legal Project Managers, especially if they are practicing attorneys. Even if you do not bill by the hour, it is still important to track your time to understand how long tasks...

In an article posted to its Career Central Web site, the Project Management Institute lists the legal sector as one of the hottest job sectors for project managers right now.[1] TextThe short blurb points out that while project managers looking for work may not have considered the legal industry, there is "increasing demand for their skills as players in the legal field adopt project management methodologies to more efficiently deliver services and control risk." It goes on to quote Adam Seskis, Senior Vice President of Epiq Systems, who discusses how effective project management can "win cases and trim costs."The article includes...

On August 17th, the Organization of Litigation Support Professionals will host a presentation on "common sense project management," presented by Jane Gennarelli, a principal of Magellan's Law Corporation.Title: "Common Sense Project Management" Format/Location: Teleconference. Cost: Free for OLP members. 79 USD per telephone line for non-members.  Organizations: The Organization of Legal ProfessionalsInstructors: Jane Gennarelli, a principal of Magellan's Magellan's Law CorporationDate: Tuesday, August 17, 2010, 7:30 to 9:30 A.M. United States 10:00 a.m. Pacific; 12:00 Central; 1:00 EasternDescription/Agenda: [T]his webinar...will discuss the typical reasons that litigation projects get "broken" -- why there are cost overruns, why deadlines are missed, and why quality expectations aren't met -- and [will] outline...

I am often asked by people looking to get into litigation support and electronic discovery, or those looking to take their career to the next level, whether they should consider obtaining a PMP or other project-management certificate. Generally, I advise that those newer to the field to focus on gaining relevant training first and software certifications second.  Your overall experience and familiarity with specific software applications tend to matter more for these positions. Also, until recently, I've advised that other than some litigation-support vendors, project-management certifications are generally not valued in the legal industry. Recently, however, this has changed. Attorneys and litigation-support professionals looking to bolster...

Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP and Hildebrandt Baker Robbins are presenting the 9th Annual General Counsel Forum on September 13-14, in New York City. The forum promises to "[bring] together a highly experienced group of risk management professionals to help law firms lower their risk exposure." One of the topics of the forum is "Project Management as a Risk Management Tool," presented by Susan Raridon Lambreth, Managing Director, Hildebrandt Baker Robbins. Increasing pressure from clients for price breaks and alternative fee arrangements have made efficient legal work design more important than ever. Business organizations have long embraced project management and process improvement methods...

On July 28th, the Atlanta chapter of the Association of Litigation Support Professionals will co-host with the American Society of Digital Forensics & E-discovery a free breakfast networking event and presentation on "proactive e-discovery project management."Title: "Proactive e-Discovery Project Management: Proven Strategies to Gain Control, Manage Risk and Realize Positive Returns" Format/Location: Live. Robert Half Legal 3424 Peachtree Road Floor C Atlanta, GA 30326 404.264.0810 www.roberthalflegal.comCost: Free.Organizations: Association of Litigation Support Professionals--Atlanta ChapterAmerican Society of Digital Forensics & E-dscoveryInstructors: Scott D. Nader (link requires LinkedIn account, no public profile), Legal Counsel, AMECAMECJ. Henry Walker IV, Partner, Kilpatrick Stockton LLPFrank Wu, Managing Director, Protiviti Inc.Date: Wednesday, July 28, 2010, 7:30 to 9:30...

On August 18th, the Practicing Law Institute will present a one-hour CLE program that promises to demystify project management. Title: Demystifying Project ManagementFormat: Audio only (Windows Media Player, Real Player, or Adobe Flash Player software needed).Cost: $299Organizations: Practicing Law InstituteInstructors: Stephen V. Armstrong, Principal, Armstrong Talent DevelopmentTimothy G. Leishman, Managing Director, Firm Leader Inc.Date: Wednesday, August 18, 2010, 1:00 pm  - 2:00 pm United States Eastern TimeDescription: As clients push law firms to be more efficient and as alternative fee arrangements spread, firms are beginning to apply project management principles to manage their work.  But the tenets of classic project management, as they were developed to...

Juicy bite-sized morsels of legal project management from the week ending Saturday, July 24, 2010. UPDATE: I chose the wrong date when scheduling this post, so it posted a day early, and before I had a chance to go through the large list of LPM material on the Web that I was on my review list. I've added a good number more tidbits since this first posted.Also, I have to say, for "chunking" your Web reading, where you may have 50 or more tabs open, TooManyTabs extension for Google Chrome is a God send.Note: due to an exceptionally heavy travel...

I spent some time today reading through the Organization of Legal Professionals's (OLP) recently published Thought Leader's Guide to Electronic Discovery, a collection of 15 short articles covering "areas of concern litigators encounter frequently in pretrial discovery and presents suggestions and strategies for solving some of these problems." It seeks to further the OLP's goal of providing "formal education for the experienced legal professional in eDiscovery."[1] It also includes a directory of organizations and blogs dedicated to e-discovery and information about OLP's on-line e-discovery courses.  Author: The Organization of Legal Professionals Title: The OLP's Thought Leaders Guide to E-Discovery Publisher: The Organization...

Legal-project management has been getting a lot of press as the sluggish economy continues to create demand for more efficient legal services and predictable legal costs. Law firms are getting the message that to compete in this environment, they need to employ project-management best practices. The challenge is that lawyers typically do not receive project-management training. Demand is increasing for material targeted at the "accidental" legal-project manager who doesn't have the time or budget for extensive, formal project-management training. Jim Hassett's new Legal Project Management Quick Reference Guide ("Guide") addresses this need. Author: Jim Hassett Title: Legal Project Management Quick Reference Guide:...