1. Law Department Management Track Wednesday, 9:00–10:30am
Exposing Legal Project Management Myths: The Truth Behind What Works and What Doesn’t
Law Department Management Track
Wednesday, 9:00–10:30am
Hosted by

2. Introductions
Rick Kathuria
Pratik Patel
Doug Luftman
Chris Fowler

3. Getting To Know You ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

4. Ever Seen This? Creative Commons License by www.projectcartoon.com
What the client explained
What the project leader understood
What the analyst designed
What the programmer coded
What the beta testers received
What the consultant defined
How the project was documented
What actually
was installed
What was billed
How it was maintained
What marketing advertised
What the client actually needed
Creative Commons License by

5. Breaking Down Project Management
What is a Project?
It’s a temporary group activity designed to produce a unique product, service or result.
Projects are:
Temporary – has a defined beginning and end in time, and therefore defined scope and resources.
Unique – not a routine operation, but a specific set of operations designed to accomplish a singular goal. So a project team often includes different people from different areas and across multiple geographies.

6. So Then… What is Project Management?
It is the application of knowledge, skills and techniques to execute projects effectively and efficiently.

7. So THEN… What is Legal Project Management?
The application of the concepts of project management to the control and management of legal cases or matters.
—Steven Levy, Author
Legal Project Management: Control Costs, Meet Schedules, Manage Risks, and Maintain Sanity

8. Goals for the Session
By the numbers – the impact of PM on your business
Discuss/debate common myths around PM for Legal
Share anecdotes of what worked and what hasn’t
Participate, have fun and win prizes!

9. How do your legal projects fare against these figures?
Did You Know That….?
The average cost overrun of all projects is 27%
Harvard Business Review
One in six projects have a cost overrun of at least 200%
Fewer than 1/3 of all projects finish on time and on budget
Standish Group
How do your legal projects fare against these figures?

10. Now Entering the Mythbusting Zone…

11. Fact or Myth?
A PM spends most of his/her time documenting and updating project plans

12. 90% Reality: Myth… In fact, the PM role is communication
Gathering status updates from project stakeholders
Facilitating project meetings and discussions
Communicating meeting minutes and action items
90%
communication
Statistic from Wrike.com

13. Non-lawyers make for better legal project managers
Fact or Myth?
Non-lawyers make for better legal project managers

14. Reality: It Depends… NetApp uses Gowlings uses BT uses
Lawyers for patent litigation matters/projects
Non-lawyers for PM of internal projects and externally with Joint Defense Group Matters
Gowlings uses
Associate lawyers for PM of Litigation and Transactional matters
BT uses
Non lawyers for law department operational tasks and KM

15. Fact or Myth?
LPM only works when everyone on the team is trained on project management

16. Gowlings’ Simple LPM Framework

17. Reality: Familiarity is good, but formal training not required.
Even at corporate giants like IBM, only
Among CIOs
Of de facto project managers,
56%
67%
70%
of PM specialists hold a certificate
see PMI certification as valuable but not a necessity
have no special training or certificate

18. Lawyers will not adopt LPM because it’s too complex and time consuming
Fact or Myth?
Lawyers will not adopt LPM because it’s too complex and time consuming

19. Short meeting minutes go a long way
NetApp leverages Level2 to project manage JDG sessions with upwards of 20 participants
Pre-meeting agendas
Attendance trackers
Key milestones
Key upcoming activities
Key decision items
Key challenges

20. Gowlings’ Use of Easy Traffic Lights
Plan: Use Simple Matter Plans
Monitor: Use Traffic Lights

21. Right Mix of Change Management

22. Reality: If too complex, lawyers will not use it
Reality: If too complex, lawyers will not use it. Also, if not backed by formal change measures, lawyers will not use it.

23. Fact or Myth?
Most law departments have sophisticated ways to review and measure project performance.

24. What British Telecom Measures…

25. What NetApp Measures…

26. Reality: Sophistication is not important
Reality: Sophistication is not important. Setting a series of simple baselines and measuring against those is the key.
Where We Started
Where We Are Now

27. Audience Mythbusting

28. Key Takeaways Project Management is a part of everything we do.
PM for legal goes beyond just matter management.
Both lawyers and non-lawyers make good PMs.
Don’t wait for certifications – just start.
You will need the right mix of change techniques to make PM a success.
Data matters; Set a baseline and then measure to achieve better results.

29. Feel Free to Contact Us Rick Kathuria Pratik Patel Doug Luftman
Chris Fowler