Market Areas > Practice Management > Legal Project Management

Legal Project Management (LPM): The New Frontier of Law Firm Profitability

Course Description:

You’ve heard about, read about it, and can’t ignore it.  Legal Project Management (LPM) is the hot topic right now, and has taken center stage as more and more clients place an unprecedented premium on increasing the efficiency, predictability, and cost management of legal services.

LPM has been adopted by savvy firms as a means to more work from clients and as differentiators from slow-to-adapt competitors.  It’s the new way to work on cases that incorporates excellent relationship management with keen communication methods.

Many firms struggle to estimate how long a case will take or how much it will cost.  LPM removes that burden, allowing your firm to more effectively manage transactions, improve communication and manage costs. It also helps you meet client's growing expectations.  

Course highlights:

Get the tools you need to optimize results in this comprehensive audio conference on CD.  Our expert faculty will delve into the essential ingredients of a well-implemented LPM program, including:

• Best practices for aligning the interests of the firm with those of the client through LPM
• How LPM works for cases billed hourly or as alternative fee arrangements
• Best practices for goal setting, and resource allocation
• Why LPM works, even in a legal landscape ripe with surprises
• Real life examples of LPM success
• The challenges of incorporating LPM and how to overcome them.

Featured Faculty:

Jim Hassett, Founder, LegalBizDev

Jim Hassett is the founder of LegalBizDev, which helps law firms increase profitability by improving business development, alternative fees, and project management.  Before he started working with lawyers, Jim had 20 years of experience as a sales trainer and consultant to companies from American Express to Zurich Financial Services.  He is the author of nine books, including The Legal Project Management Quick Reference Guide, The LegalBizDev Survey of Alternative Fees, and Legal Business Development: A Step by Step Guide.  He has also published more than 80 articles in the New York Times Magazine, Of Counsel, Legal Management, Strategies: The Journal of Legal Marketing and other publications.  Jim is a frequent speaker at law firms and at bar associations (including the New York City Bar, the New York State Bar, and the Massachusetts Bar), Harvard Law School, the Association of Corporate Counsel, the Defense Research Institute, the Ark Group, and at Legal Marketing Association meetings in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Savannah, and Vancouver.  He has conducted webinars through West LegalEdcenter, the National Law Journal, The International Lawyers Network, TAG Academy, and the Legal Marketing Association.  Jim writes the blog Legal Business Development which was featured at the ABA TECHSHOW in 2009 and again in 2010 (in its list of “60 Sites: Latest and Greatest Internet Hits”) and by TechnoLawyer (in its list of “the most influential legal blogs” in BlawgWorld).  He has a Ph.D. from Harvard and is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Boston University.

Steven B. Levy, Lexician/Seattle

Author of Legal Project Management: Control Costs, Meet Schedules, Manage Risks, and Maintain Sanity and an ongoing series of thoughtful articles on Legal Project Management. Steven Levy is a technologist and project manager turned businessperson who helps the legal world deliver increased value to clients. He headed the legal technology department at Microsoft for many years, driving innovation and efficiency into one of the largest corporate law departments. He also led two industry task forces, served on the LEDES committee, and founded a corporate-law roundtable. Also in his 17 years at Microsoft, he was a Principal Consultant in Microsoft Consulting Services, managed development of Microsoft's largest IT systems, and led multiple Microsoft product groups. Before Microsoft, he spent 15 years developing commercial software, consulting, and managing projects in a variety of fields. He currently heads Lexician/Steven Levy and Associates. He is a highly requested speaker and seminar leader, and he writes regularly on legal topics.

Pam Woldow, Edge International

Pam Woldow is a recognized global authority on the emerging face of the legal profession, with over 25 years of experience consulting to corporate legal departments and law firm management, managing large legal departments and budgets herself, and practicing law.  She pioneered Legal Project Management programs for global law firms, such as Dechert.  And, she trains in-house legal departments in Legal Project Management.

Pam presently advises General Counsel on law department operations, litigation management, selection and supervision of outside counsel and all aspects of the law firm-client relationship.  She also counsels firms on alternative fee arrangements, the counsel selection process, and responding to RFPs. 

She held positions as Deputy General Counsel of Pennsylvania, Director of Litigation Management for a $2 billion public financial services company, and General Counsel of a subsidiary of a diversified consumer services corporation.  Her law firm experience includes complex commercial and environmental litigation with large US firms.  Pam is a Certified Master Coach and a well-known speaker on trends in the legal marketplace.

MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE:

Pricing:

Your CD recording includes the complete audio conference presentation, audience Q&A and presentation materials.

CLE:

CCM provides audio conference attendees with CLE credit processing services. To expedite CCM processing your CLE request, please complete and submit the evaluation form available from CCM at the conclusion of the audio conference. It will be necessary to enter the following information: name of each attorney requesting CLEs with full contact information, including e-mail address, bar number, and the state in which the attorney wants credits. Each attorney requesting credits must submit an evaluation.

Please be advised CCM audio conferences are subject to approval from each CLE issuing organization and approval is not guaranteed (state bar associations in Delaware, Indiana, Kansas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania do not grant CLE credits for audio conferences). The approval process takes approximately 6 - 8 weeks for most organizations but can take as long as 3 - 4 months. You will be notified via e-mail with the final status of your CLE application.

Any person applying for CLE credits must attend the audio conference from start to finish (attendance will be taken for compliance reasons). Requests for CLE credits must be received no later than two weeks following the conclusion of the audio conference or live conference. CLE credits are not available for CD recordings.

If you have any questions regarding CLE credits, contact Jill Adler at 631.368.2082 x 21 or jill.adler@meeting-matters.com.

Each CCM event presents a variety of information and is presented for each organization to develop its own approach and methodology.