Title ACC Calgary Chapter LPM What every in-house lawyer needs to know

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1 Title ACC Calgary Chapter LPM What every in-house lawyer needs to know Suzanne Wood, National Director (Canada), Legal Project Management Rebecca Benavides, National Director (U.S.), Legal Project Management October 2014 Exercise: project management in action 1

2 Increasing Pressures Improve Response Time Streamline Processes Reduce Overhead Reduce Legal Spend Increase Predictability Standardize Services Inside counsel Deliver High Quality Results How do you respond? Outsource Change firms 2

3 What is a project? A project is defined as a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. A guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) What is project management? Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to plan activities to meet project requirements. A guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) 3

4 What is legal project management? Legal Project Management is a proactive, disciplined approach to managing legal work that involves defining, planning, budgeting, executing, and evaluating a legal matter; the application of specific knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to achieve project objectives (the client s legal organization s); and the use of effective communication to set and meet objectives and expectations. The Power of Legal Project Management, Lambreth and Rueff, (2014) Elements of Legal Project Management While there is no industry standard approach for developing and implementing LPM, the following are key areas that most firms and corporate clients have attempted to address: more in-depth understanding of the project/matter at the outset enhanced, effective, and timely communication with key stakeholders use of scope of work statements that defines what is in and out of scope developing templates for matters using a Work Breakdown Structure ( WBS ) budgets which are realistic, including identifying associated risks improved monitoring throughout matters, including budget to actual reports, milestones for progress on client objectives, and changes in scope, risk, and stakeholders, etc. end of action reviews to identify best practices, lessons learned, and other important aspects for continued process improvement The Power of Legal Project Management, Lambreth and Rueff, (2014) 4

5 The four stages of a matter/transaction Exercise: Identifying your current LPM toolkit 5

6 Evaluating your current toolkit Scoping Managing Closing Engagement letters Early case assessment After action reviews Scope of work statements Monthly / quarterly reports Internal evaluation process Budget worksheets Detailed invoices Detailed financial analysis Case management plan Budget worksheet External counsel performance review Scope change request process RACI charts Knowledge capture Communications plan Matter tracking database RFP template responses Collaboration sites Decision tree analysis Task trackers Stage 1: Scoping the project 6

7 Scoping Considerations Why are we undertaking this project? What needs to be done? Who should be involved? When does the work need to be done by? How much will it cost? Who will be affected by the project? What are the end goals? Scoping Establish Priorities Time Quality Cost 7

8 Scoping - what do you want / need Scope of work statement 8

9 Scope of work statement cont d Scope of work statement cont d 9

10 Exercise: Scope of work statement Stage 2: Planning the project 10

11 Identify and Plan for Risk Effective risk planning and management aids predictability and scope discussions Identify upfront those variables that may result in missing client expectations ediscovery costs and disputes Probability of Occurrence Impact - Severity Aggressive adversary A slow or fast-tracked matter Post judgment proceedings and collection efforts Provide a mechanism in the Statement of Work for handling scope changes based on risk assessment Communicate risks to the business and outside counsel and adjust scope Planning - Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) 11

12 Communications Plan Communications Plan is a road map which defines: What needs to be communicated What is the purpose of the communication Who needs to be involved in the communication How often does the communication need to occur What format the communication should take Sample Communications Plan Audience Information Method Frequency Who is Responsible? Matter Team Matter Status update Conference Call Weekly Team Leader Robert Smith (in-house counsel) Update on court appearances Within 1 hour of court session ending Responsible Partner Robert Smith (in-house counsel) Detailed status report Monthly Responsible Partner Client procurement director Budget to actual status report Conference Call First Wednesday of every month Team Leader Board of Directors High level status report PowerPoint Presentation at Board Meetings Monthly Robert Smith (in-house counsel) 12

13 Stage 3: Implementing Implementing - RACI charts R A C I Responsible The people who do the work Accountable The person who is answerable Consulted The people who need to weigh-in Informed The people who need to be kept in the loop 13

14 RACI Charts Tasks Jane Counsel Peter Johnson George Meadows Norton Rose Fulbright Developing communications protocol A/R C I R Coordinating with internal business contacts C A/R I C Developing budget A/R I C R Managing budget for phases A I I R Develop litigation hold document R C I A/R Implementing litigation hold A/R C C R Responsible (R) Accountable (A) Consulted (C) Informed (I) These are the people who actually do the work. There can be many people responsible for a single task. This is the person who needs to answer for whether the task has been completed. There can only be one person accountable. These are people who need to be engaged in the process and whose feedback is required. These are people who need to be apprised of developments, but do not need to provide feedback. Exercise: RACI chart 14

15 Stage 4: Closing down/handover Closure Evaluation When the celebrations are over, it s time to conduct the matter closure evaluation Capture lessons learned on a variety of metrics Identify knowledge assets Refine standard case templates, scope, and budget forms Conduct a financial post-mortem Could we have priced differently and/or better? Can conduct both external (client) and internal (team) evaluations 15

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