Legal Project Management

Steven B. Levy
Author, Legal Project Management

Rick Kathuria
PMP, P. Eng, CMC

Who Are We, Anyway?

Rick Kathuria, PMP, P. Eng, CMC

Director, IT Development and PMO for McCarthy Ttrault

Certified Project Manager and Professional Engineer
>15 years experience managing projects
Member of Executive Committee for PMIs Legal Project
Management Community of Practice

Steven B. Levy

Author, Legal Project Management

CEO, Lexician training, coaching, and consulting in LPM
35+ years experience managing projects and leading
businesses on three continents
Member of Executive Committee for PMIs Legal Project
Management Community of Practice

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Definition:

Legal Project Management

is the application
of the principles
of project management
to legal cases/matters.

Free Counsel to Add Value

Framework to Efficiently Manage Projects

Way of Thinking, Not a Straitjacket

Leverages Skills You Already Have

Doesnt Require Complex Tools

Pick a Topic!

The
Failure Seven
ofPM Habits
Schedules
ThatWork

The Seven Easily

Learned, Practical
Habits
of Highly Effective
Project Managers

1. Create a Project Charter

Elements

2. Track and Manage Project

Risk Proactively

The Six Risk Items to Track

Trigger

Contingency

Mitigation Exposure

t s
en
Cli

Ma
na
ge
r s

Risk Tolerance

Yours

3. Negotiate Done Continually

I Know When Im Done

Conditions of Satisfaction
Critical
Success
Factors
Cost

Deliverables

Timeline

Communication

4. Minimize Waste and NonValue Added Activity

The Seven Wastes

Toyota
Legal
Inventory

Work on hold

Extra processing Paperwork, process

Overproduction

Non-outcome determinative

Transportation

Task/context switching

Motion

Looking for stuff

Waiting

Waiting

Defects

Insufficient quality

Responsible

Consulted

Acting

Informed

5. Clarify Project Stakeholders

and Decision-Making

The RACI Chart

Responsible

Consulted

Acting

Informed

Manage People as Well as Projects

What are the biggest causes of

rework?

Assigning Tasks

6. Build and Execute a

Communications Plan

Preferences

7. Use Data to Make Project

and Fiscal Choices

The First Law of Metrics

You get what you measure.

Input v. Output Metrics

Good Metrics Are:

Broad-Based
Measurable

Aligned
w/
Goals

Understandable

BehaviorDriving
Repeatable

The Seven Practical Habits

1.

Create a Project Charter

2.

Track and Manage Risk Proactively

3.

Negotiate Done Continually

4.

Minimize Waste and Rework/Write-Offs

5.

Clarify Stakeholders and Decision-Making

6.

Create a Communications Plan

7.

Use Data to Make Choices

The McCarthy Ttrault Story

The Failure of
Project Management:
Traditional Project
Management Meets
Legal (or IT)

Whats Wrong With This Picture?

Horizontal Instability

Predicted Duration

Predicted Duration

y
t
n
i
a
t
r
e
c
Un

Predicted Duration

Predicted Duration

Vertical Instability

Should we just

give up?

Project
Management

Three Cs and a D

Use a Project Charter

harter

ARRT

Embrace Constraints

onstraints

Build a Communications Plan

ommunication

Aim for Done

one

Three Cs and a D

harter
onstraints
ommunication
one
elegate

Manage People as Well as Projects

The McCarthy Ttrault Story

Schedules That
Work:
Its Not (Just) a Tools
Problem

Whats Wrong With This Picture?

Three Cs and a D

harter
onstraints

Constraints

Three Cs and a D

harter
onstraints
ommunication

Communication

Three Cs and a D

harter
onstraints
ommunication
one

Done

Three Cs and a D

harter
onstraints
ommunication
one

Legal Project Management Action Plan

9Due date
9Check-back date
9Person responsible
9Action
9Progress
9Notes

Rethinking Working Hours: Productivity

Productive Work

Administrivia

Interruptions

Risk
Premium

Communication

Whos Got the Monkey?

9Due date
9Check-back date
9Person responsible
9Action
9Progress
9Notes

The McCarthy Ttrault Story

An LPM Framework

Projects have 4 stages

4. EVALUATE

1. DEFINE

3. MONITOR

2. PLAN

Questions and Arguments

Whats the difference between

Legal Project Management

and
traditional project management?

Is LPM a

fad?

For firm and in-house,

what are the benefits of LPM?

Which benefits have you

actually seen?

How do you measure

use of LPM?

Who are the

project managers?

What are a project managers

key responsibilities?

During implementation,
what are the reactions

from the lawyers?

What are the implementation

challenges?

What LPM differences exist between

litigation and transactional work?

For Further Information

Rick Kathuria, PMP, P. Eng, CMC

tel: 416-601-8054
rkathuria@mccarthy.ca
lpm.servicedelivery@vcleader.pmi.org

Steven B. Levy

Tel: 1-530-LEXICIAN (530-539-4242)

Steven.Levy@Lexician.com
Training@Lexician.com