ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct 1.0 (e) - Informed Consent. ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct 1.0 (n) - Writing

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1 Legal Project Management Glossary (excerpt from The Power of Legal Project Management: A Practical Guide, Susan Raridan Lambreth and David A. Rueff, Jr. (ABA 2014) ABA task codes Professional Conduct 1.0 (e) - Informed Consent Professional Conduct 1.0 (n) - Writing Professional Conduct Competence Professional Conduct 1.2 (c)- Scope of Representation and Allocation of Authority Between Client and Lawyer Professional Conduct Communications see UTBMS "Informed consent" denotes the agreement by a person to a proposed course of conduct after the lawyer has communicated adequate information and explanation about the material risks of and reasonably available alternatives to the proposed course of conduct. Writing or written denotes a tangible or electronic record of a communication or representation, including handwriting, typewriting, printing, photostating, photography, audio or videorecording, and electronic communications. A signed writing includes an electronic sound, symbol or process attached to or logically associated with a writing and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the writing. A lawyer shall provide competent representation to a client. Competent representation requires the legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness and preparation reasonably necessary for the representation. A lawyer may limit the scope of the representation if the limitation is reasonable under the circumstances and the client gives informed consent. (a) A lawyer shall: (1) promptly inform the client of any decision or circumstance with respect to which the client's informed consent, as defined in Rule 1.0(e), is required by these Rules; (2) reasonably consult with the client about the means by which the client's objectives are to be accomplished; (3) keep the client reasonably informed about the status of the matter; (4) promptly comply with reasonable requests for information; and (5) consult with the client about any relevant limitation on the lawyer's conduct when the lawyer knows that the client expects assistance not permitted by the Rules of Professional Conduct or other law. (b) A lawyer shall explain a matter to the extent reasonably necessary to permit the client to make informed decisions regarding 1 P age

2 the representation. Professional Conduct 1.5 (a) - Fee Arrangements Professional Conduct 1.5 (b) - Basis for the Fee Arrangement Professional Conduct Confidentiality of Information Professional Conduct Responsibilities of Partners, Managers, And Supervisory Lawyers A lawyer shall not make an agreement for, charge, or collect an unreasonable fee or an unreasonable amount for expenses. The factors to be considered in determining the reasonableness of a fee include the following: (1) the time and labor required, the novelty and difficulty of the questions involved, and the skill requisite to perform the legal service properly; (2) the likelihood, if apparent to the client, that the acceptance of the particular employment will preclude other employment by the lawyer; (3) the fee customarily charged in the locality for similar legal services; (4) the amount involved and the results obtained; (5) the time limitations imposed by the client or by the circumstances; (6) the nature and length of the professional relationship with the client; (7) the experience, reputation, and ability of the lawyer or lawyers performing the services; and (8) whether the fee is fixed or contingent. The scope of the representation and the basis or rate of the fee and expenses for which the client will be responsible shall be communicated to the client, preferably in writing, before or within a reasonable time after commencing the representation... Any changes in the basis or rate of the fee or expenses shall also be communicated to the client. (a) A lawyer shall not reveal information relating to the representation of a client unless the client gives informed consent, the disclosure is impliedly authorized in order to carry out the representation or the disclosure is permitted by paragraph (b)... (c) A lawyer shall make reasonable efforts to prevent the inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure of, or unauthorized access to, information relating to the representation of a client. (a) A partner in a law firm, and a lawyer who individually or together with other lawyers possesses comparable managerial authority in a law firm, shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that the firm has in effect measures giving reasonable assurance that all lawyers in 2 P age

3 the firm conform to the Rules of Professional Conduct. Professional Conduct Responsibilities Regarding Nonlawyer Assistance Professional Conduct Communications Concerning a Lawyer's Services Agile Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) alternative fee model assumptions With respect to a nonlawyer employed or retained by or associated with a lawyer: (a) a partner, and a lawyer who individually or together with other lawyers possesses comparable managerial authority in a law firm shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that the firm has in effect measures giving reasonable assurance that the person's conduct is compatible with the professional obligations of the lawyer; (b) a lawyer having direct supervisory authority over the nonlawyer shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that the person's conduct is compatible with the professional obligations of the lawyer... A lawyer shall not make a false or misleading communication about the lawyer or the lawyer s services. A communication is false or misleading if it contains a material misrepresentation of fact or law, or omits a fact necessary to make the statement considered as a whole not materially misleading. A project management technique which emerged to address the challenges with software development, spend less time on trying to develop the entire universe of specifications at the outset and acknowledge that the project is an iterative process. Agile techniques allow the product to evolve over time based on information that emerges during the course of the project. Planning is not diminished, but the plan, its assumptions, the work breakdown structure, and the definition of a successful result are regularly reevaluated and tested and frequently reconsidered. See also Scrum. A PMI credential which recognizes demonstrated knowledge and skill in Agile project management techniques. see value based pricing Factors assumed to be true at project initiation that must be validated throughout the life of the engagement. These include factual assumptions that if proved untrue could result in expansion of the scope and additional tasks to be performed, and procedural or strategic assumptions regarding the opposing parties litigation or negotiation tactics which are factored into 3 P age

4 bottom-up estimating budget change impact table change management plan client communication plan the tasks to be performed and time estimates. A budgeting technique which starts at the most granular level of the budget and identifies the resources to be assigned, the amount of time required for the subtasks or activities and the fee for the subtask or activity. These figures are then consolidated for all subtasks / activities and rolled up into a total budget for tasks, and then rolled up for a total estimate for phases, and ultimately the matter. This method of estimation is generally the most reliable but is also the most timeconsuming, because it requires budget estimators to consider the appropriate resource and appropriate time necessary for the completion of all assignments. A document which identifies the project pricing or fee for a matter and can include the phases, tasks, activities, deliverables, proposed staffing, rates for staffing and estimated time for completion. This is distinguishable from the "cost" of the matter which is the firm's investment necessary to perform the work versus the price or fee charged to the client. Budgeting techniques can include top-down or bottom-up estimating. A table used to identify changes which are likely to occur, the possible impact on the project if the change occurs and the matter team's approach if the change occurs. This tool is used in conjunction with the change management plan. A document which identifies the matter team's process for communicating and confirming scope, resource or timing changes with the client and which may be a policy statement or involve processes to obtain client approval. A tool used for the development of the plan is the change impact table. The term client refers to the traditional client of a law firm, but also describes the internal clients within an organization who utilize the services of an in house legal department. The client may refer to one person who is the lawyer's main or primary contact, or may simply be the person through which the lawyer will interact with all the other stakeholders within the client organization. In some cases, the client may actually be a board or committee, not an individual. A document which identifies all the key stakeholders 4 P age

5 constraints cost-plus pricing dashboard disaggregation DMAIC Lean Lean Six Sigma with whom the matter team needs to communicate, what type of communication is preferred, who is responsible for the actual communication, and how it will occur. Limitations that affect the project parameters or the matter team's ability to complete the project and meet the client objectives for budget or other outcomes. A pricing approach which evaluates the costs involved in producing a product or service and adds an appropriate profit margin to create a price. Provided a cost is estimated accurately, one will make money on every sale or in the case of lawyers, matter. Visualization tool developed and utilized by legal organizations and software vendors for internal or external use to manage legal projects. The tools may be designed to provide up-to-date intelligence, drive decision making and may include financial management data such as budget-to-actual and profitability measures such as leverage, effective rate, realization, work in process etc. See also project management information system. A technique for creating a work breakdown structure which disaggregates a process into its component parts and subsidiary pieces to identify the staffing and time necessary to accomplish the work. Process improvement technique which incorporates the following steps: (1) Define the problem and why it needs to be solved. (2) Measure the current performance of the process. (3) Analyze the opportunities to reduce waste or variation. (4) Improve the process by piloting, implementing, and validating process changes. (5) Control the process to ensure improvements will be sustainable. A process improvement methodology which focuses on the identification and elimination of waste and nonvalue-added activities to promote a process that provides what is needed, when it is needed, and in the amount needed, with the minimum materials, equipment, labor, and space. Lean increases speed and Six Sigma increases accuracy. Lean Six Sigma methodology incorporates a methodology which utilizes the best techniques of each of this approaches and uses a set of five principles as a 5 P age

6 LEDES legal process improvement legal project management legal project management office legal project manager lessons learned market-based pricing framework for process improvement: define, measure, analyze, improve, control (DMAIC). The Legal Electronic Data Exchange Standard is a file format used by the legal industry for exchanging electronic billing and matter information. The evaluation of the practice of law and development of a repeatable model of execution. This includes enhancing or reengineering work processes by analyzing its existing state, identifying areas for increased efficiencies, and eliminating waste or rework to deliver desired business outcomes. See also Lean, Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma, voice of the client and processing mapping. 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 centralized team of professionals within a legal organization responsible for developing LPM resources and tools, implementing LPM with matter teams, providing training and technical marketing for the organization on the benefits of LPM, providing support for the evaluation of budgets and pricing arrangements and promoting change to more efficient processes within the legal organization. The individual on a matter team who facilitates development of the scope of work and project plan components, monitors the budget performance, resolves issues and manages conflicts within the project team and stakeholders, manages stakeholder perceptions and expectations, distributes performance information and handles any change requests regarding staffing, scope, resources, deliverables and timing. Identification of improvements to work processes or form documents which can be implemented in the current matter or future matters to achieve an improved level of service for the client. See also matter debrief. A pricing approach which takes the view that, in a competitive market, it does not matter how much it costs to produce the service, rather what is important is 6 P age

7 the price it will take to win the work by evaluation of competitors and what they are charging. matter debrief A meeting performed at the end of a matter and attended by the key members of the matter team to gather data about the cost of the matter, changes that occurred which affected project outcomes, issues which affected stakeholder expectations or relationships, and may also include an evaluation of lessons learned and be accompanied by a client evaluation. See also Plus-Delta Analysis organizational process assets Documents, forms or reusable assets which capture the intellectual property and best practices of the legal organization. Plus-Delta Analysis A technique for matter debriefs which facilitates an evaluation of the performance of the matter team. The plus (+) stands for what worked well during the matter, and the delta (Δ) stands for change or what could be changed for the next similar matter. PMBOK Guide A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge is a management guide and international standard which identifies and defines the fundamental techniques, tools, inputs and outputs of traditional project management processes and knowledge areas. The fourth edition of the PMBOK is used as a reference for this book, however a fifth edition of the book is available from PMI. Probability / Impact Matrix A matrix used to evaluate all risks identified by the matter team during the planning phase and which analyzes each risk in terms of probability of occurrence and potential impact. The matrix is used to create a risk register which ranks each risk, identifies those risks that will be assumed and absorbed by the firm if they occur (i.e. no budget or fee increases will be incurred by the client if the risk occurs), and identifies those risks that will not be assumed or absorbed by the firm. The matrix is an important tool for communicating with clients about the types and levels of risk, making determinations of who assumes the risk and determining if there are any mitigation or other strategies to deal with the risk. process mapping A diagram, roadmap or playbook of a matter which is developed by the matter team to identify all the steps 7 P age

8 progressive decomposition project charter project management information systems (PMIS) Project Management Institute (PMI) Project Management Professional (PMP) project plan RACI chart that must be undertaken in the matter, including the administrative and the legal processes. See also value stream mapping. A technique for creating a work breakdown structure which takes a requirement and segregates it into the steps, checklist items, or work that will be necessary to accomplish the requirement. see scope of work A technological system used to collect and capture information related to a project which is accessible by the entire project team and is used to plan, execute, and close project management goals. These systems can either be developed by the legal organization or thirdparty software and are typically connected to financial, time entry, and resource databases in order to provide the matter team with real time information regarding the status of the matter. See also dashboard. A non-profit, international organization that sets standards for project management in order to allow professionals to speak with common language, no matter the industry or their geographic location. A PMI credential which recognizes demonstrated knowledge and skill in leading and directing project teams and in delivering project results within the constraints of time, cost, and scope (the triple constraint). Eligibility requirements include a four-year degree, three years of project management experience with 4,500 hours spent leading and directing project tasks, and 35 hours project management education. A document which forms the basis for the active management of the matter throughout its life cycle in order to ensure that client and key stakeholder expectations are achieved. The project plan should include a schedule, resource/staffing plan, communication plan, risk management plan, change management plan and budget. A matrix which matches major project activities or workstreams with relevant stakeholders and defines responsibilities and assignments. "R" is for who is responsible for working on the activity and can be more than one person. "A"'is for who is accountable for the work to be accomplished and is typically one person. 8 P age

9 request for proposal (RFP) resource / staffing plan resource assignment matrix see RACI chart risk risk analysis matrix risk management plan risk register root cause analysis "C" is for who is consulted or has input on the performance of the work. "I" is form who is informed or copied about the progress of the work. Request by a client to law firms to provide a fee proposal for a pre-defined scope of work which requires the law firm to identify and evaluate scope, work breakdown structures, assumptions, risks, schedules, staffing, estimate or budget for the work and potential alternative models for compensation such as fixed fees, blended rates, etc. A component of a project management plan which identifies who will perform each of the items on the schedule and when, and can include both professionals and staff within the legal organization and outside the legal organization who are necessary to complete tasks such as experts, vendors, e-discovery professionals, etc. Any factor that could affect the matter team's ability to have the project meet the expectations or objectives of key stakeholders including the budget, timing, or the schedule for the matter. Risks can include not only legal risks, but also broader risks such as an aggressive opposing counsel, a difficult judge, failure to obtain necessary financing or regulatory approvals, bad facts uncovered in discovery, etc. see Probability / Impact Matrix A document which identifies project risks, the probability of the risk, the potential impact of the risk and the strategies for addressing each risk. A listing of each project risk identified by the matter team which can include an estimate of the probability of occurrence, an estimate of the impact (in terms of a potential budget increase), an identification of the phases or tasks which will be impacted by the risks occurrence and, based upon an evaluation of these factors, a ranking of the risk. The risk register is used in conjunction with the Probability/Impact Matrix. A process improvement technique which identifies the cause of a repetitive problem in a process. One root cause technique is the fishbone (or Ishikawa) diagram. The fishbone analysis is a graphical illustration used to identify defects, potential causes, contributing factors, 9 P age

10 schedule scope creep scope of work Scrum ScrumMaster (CSM) Six Sigma and identify those factors and causes that should be prioritized to remove or minimize the defect. A listing of a projects milestones, activities and deliverables, usually with intended start and finish dates. Scheduled items are often estimated in terms of resource allocation, budget, and duration and linked by dependencies and other scheduled events. After the scope of the project is identified, uncontrolled changes or continuous growth in a project s scope which is outside the original budget prepared by the matter team and communicated to a client. A written statement (also called a project charter) prepared at the outset of an engagement which provides more detail than the standard engagement letter and which clearly defines what is in and out of the scope of responsibilities for the matter team, identifies key metrics of success and required deliverables, provides an initial assessment of assumptions and risks that could affect the ability of the matter team to meet the client's objectives with regard to strategy and budget, and confirms all of the client's expectations with regard to the work to be performed by the matter team. The Scrum process is a method of Agile project management techniques which was developed in the early 1990s by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland to aid with the management of product requirements which are constantly changing. The hallmark of the technique is performing work in uninterrupted iterations or sprints which limit the work in progress and permits the project team to focus on functionality that is immediately necessary. Periodic "scrums" are used to identify the work completed since the last iteration, ask questions necessary for continued work, and to set priorities for the next iteration. A Scrum Alliance credential which recognizes knowledge and skill in Scrum techniques. Six Sigma is a statistical term that refers to quality or effectiveness of a process such that at Sigma One there are 690,000 defects per one million opportunities in a process, while at Sigma Six, the process is greatly improved such that number drops to 3.4 defects per one million. The theory of Six Sigma is that 99.9 percent is good enough. 10 P age

11 stakeholder stakeholder analysis top-down estimating traditional project management triple constraint Uniform Task Based Management System (UTBMS) Anyone who is affected by or who can negatively or positively affect the outcome of a legal matter such as various individuals within the client organization, business unit, company executives, client counsel, opposing counsel, judges, plaintiffs in an adversarial proceeding, contacts at regulatory agencies, shareholders of the company being acquired or employees of a client or a company affected by the transaction/litigation. Evaluation of the key influencers of a matter in order to identify each individual's objectives or expectations for the matter, interest in the outcome, ability to exert power or influence over the matter and communication requirements. A budgeting technique which identifies a fixed price for the engagement and distributes that amount across the phases, tasks to be completed and to the resource assignments. The technique starts with an overall budget number and allocates portions of that budget number to phases, tasks, subtasks and resources. Budget allocations by resource are then used to estimate the amount of time required or allowed to perform the task. These time estimates are not as reliable as bottom-up estimating. Project management technique described by the PMBOK Guide. See also waterfall project management. Term used in traditional project management to identify the three primary variables which must be controlled in a project which are scope (tasks to be performed), time (deadlines imposed on the matter) and cost (resources performing the work and size of the team). Changes in one of these variables will impact and may require adjustments in the other variables. A unified and standard billing format developed by the ABA, Association of Corporate Counsel and PriceWaterhouseCoopers (now administered by the LEDES Oversight Committee) which uses task-based billing codes to provide a more detailed classification of services performed by law firms and includes templates for litigation, project (transactions), counseling, bankruptcy, patent, trademark, ediscovery and expenses. The templates are also referred to as "ABA Codes". 11 P age

12 value stream mapping value-based pricing voice of the client waterfall project management work breakdown structure (WBS) A process mapping technique which uses a graphical depiction of work processes to analyze the flow of information required to deliver a service to the client. The method identifies both value-adding steps and nonvalue-adding steps to locate potential waste. A pricing approach which evaluates how much the product or service is worth to a client, then sets the price accordingly. Process improvement technique which takes into consideration the client's specific needs, objectives and requirements by asking a set of predefined questions to ensure that the process will result in success. Project management technique which involves a large investment in upfront planning to develop a plan that can be used to manage the engagement to completion. The scope is controlled, and changes or dramatic deviations from the plan are not encouraged, and is based on the theory that significant changes in direction should be resisted since they have a high likelihood of requiring modification of the plan that all the parties have embraced. The term "waterfall" refers to the steps for implementation which are sequential and flow downward from a higher level of specification (project identification) to a more detailed level (project definition and execution). The progressive decomposition or disaggregation of the work required to be undertaken in a matter into work packages of varying detail (i.e. phases, tasks, subtasks, activities or deliverables) which must be executed by the matter team to accomplish the project/matter objectives. The lowest level of the WBS will be used by the matter team to create the tasks to be performed by each team member, the estimate of time to complete each task and the estimated fee to perform each task. 12 P age