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Legal Project Management
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SHB: Strategic Litigation Management (SLM)
• Partnering with clients to achieve better legal results at an exceptional value
• Where every client can expect:
– The client comes first
– Strategic early case assessments (ECA)
– Proactive management
– Value above & beyond
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Internally to SHB, SLM is:
• A learning series that provides tools and resources to help partner with clients to achieve better legal results at an exceptional value
– A philosophy that guides the way we work with clients, deliver legal services and work within our teams
– Identify the strategy, plan and balanced approach that will create value for the client and profitability for SHB
– Provide robust budgeting, tracking and reporting for client updates and active management of matters and internal teams
– Leverage technology to share knowledge and streamline the flow of work, information and documents
– Provide clients with value above and beyond the cases
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ValueValue
Strategic ECA Process
Strategic ECA Process
Project Management
Project Management
Budget Management
Budget Management
Leverage Technology
Leverage Technology
Value Added Services
Value Added Services
Core Training Principles
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PROCESS IMPROVEMENT EXAMPLES
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Discovery Process Imrovement
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Microsoft Project
• Process/Workflow - Patent Applications
• Goal – Reduce Cycle Time & Cost
• Result – 10-15% Reduction
• Additional Benefits – Additional training provided by Microsoft
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SLM EXAMPLE
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Strategic ECA Process
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Leveraging Technology –Case Connect
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Client Value Metrics
59% Reduction
57% Reduction
32% Increase
28% Reduction
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© 2014 All Rights Reserved
Managing the delivery of legal servicesFocus on costs, uncertainty & materiality
James R. BuckleyACC SoCal Chapter event June12, 2014
Aligning lawyers and their clients around value
1© 2014 All Rights ReservedJames R. Buckley | james@qlexconsulting.com | (310)489-9266
Introduction
Questions for the Audience
Goals for the evening
Structure of the program
2
2© 2014 All Rights ReservedJames R. Buckley | james@qlexconsulting.com | (310)489-9266
What it takes to manage the delivery of legal services
Service delivery
– LPM, KM, PI
Vendor management
– Law firms
– Non-lawyers
Infrastructure
– Communications
– Technology
– GRC
Financial Management
– Budgeting
– Forecasting
– Monitoring
– Managing
Planning Execution Monitoring
Test assumptions
Reconfirm business objectives and goals
Maintain team and client alignment
Respond to changed circumstances
Business goals/objectives
Assess significance & uncertainty/risk
Stakeholder interests
Assumptions & constraints
Legal work plan, with checkpoints and off-ramps
Our focus today is on managing execution, with a particular emphasis on Legal Project Management, Knowledge Management, and Process Improvement
3© 2014 All Rights ReservedJames R. Buckley | james@qlexconsulting.com | (310)489-9266
First Principles for managing the delivery of legal services
1. LPM, KM, and PI are business tools: The practice of law is about helping the client to achieve a business goal – it is not an end in itself
2. The client’s business goals are paramount*: They must anchor every legal strategy and ground all implementation decisions
3. Legal is part of a broader team: However critical their role, lawyers need to see their work as integrating into a bigger picture – emphasis on communication
4. Not just what, but how: How the work is done is often nearly as important to the client as results – particularly where Stakeholder impacts are concerned
5. Cost matters: The resources consumed by Legal must be in proportion to the benefits pursued and the risks being managed – a business case/ROI approach
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4© 2014 All Rights ReservedJames R. Buckley | james@qlexconsulting.com | (310)489-9266
The delivery of Legal Services is driven by two principal factors
Their influence impacts . . .
The level of the legal spend
The appropriate legal management approach(es) for the matter
The nature of fee arrangement
Low(Immaterial)
Uncertainty(in the legal solution)
Sig
nif
ican
ce
(to
clie
nt)
High(Unknown)
High(Material)
Low(Known)
5© 2014 All Rights ReservedJames R. Buckley | james@qlexconsulting.com | (310)489-9266
LPM, KM, and PI address different regions of uncertainty
Uncertainty High(Unknown)
Low(Known)
“Process Improvement” “Project Management”
Increasing management effort
“Knowledge Management”
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6© 2014 All Rights ReservedJames R. Buckley | james@qlexconsulting.com | (310)489-9266
The significance the client attaches to the matter further shapes the management approach
• Insignificant matters:
- Low value does not support extensive management effort
- The most cost-effective approach is to assume that the matter is driven by what is known and to manage accordingly
• Material matters:
- Impact of even trivial levels of uncertainty make use of KM and PM techniques cost-effective
• In between:
- Infinite combinations of approaches may be cost effective
Emphasize Project
Management
Emphasize Knowledge
Management
EmphasizeProcess
Improvement
Sig
nif
ican
ce
High(Material)
Low(Immaterial)
Uncertainty High(Unknown)
Low(Known)
Significance/Uncertainty “Heat Map”
7© 2014 All Rights ReservedJames R. Buckley | james@qlexconsulting.com | (310)489-9266
Summary to this point . . .
Back to our goals: Three simple ideas to be smarter about evaluating outside counsel (and managing our own work):
1. How well does the firm address the items in the execution checklist?
2. How well does the firm’s messaging and positioning align with the “First Principles”?
3. How well does the firm seem to understand the relationships illustrated by the “heat map”?
With these simple concepts in mind, let’s consider a law firm’s description of its management approach
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8© 2014 All Rights ReservedJames R. Buckley | james@qlexconsulting.com | (310)489-9266
Over to Janet Hickson,
Partner at Shook, Hardy & Bacon
9© 2014 All Rights ReservedJames R. Buckley | james@qlexconsulting.com | (310)489-9266
Finally: The fee structure should parallel the management approach
Pricing by level of uncertainty and significance to
– share risk on cost growth and
– create incentives for efficiency
Sig
nif
ican
ce
High(Material)
Low(Immaterial)
UncertaintyHigh
(Unknown)Low
(Known)
Traditional Hourly Rate
Fixed Fee
Reduced ratew/incentive
Capped fee
Blended rate
Contingent fee
Fixed feew/incentive
Fixed feew/readjust.
Keep this framework in mind when thinking about pricing
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10© 2014 All Rights ReservedJames R. Buckley | james@qlexconsulting.com | (310)489-9266
Typical matter profiles in this space
A. “Commodity” work
– High volume– Distinct types of matters– Fee: Fixed price– Focus on eliminating inefficiencies with PI
B. High-end commodity work
– High volume– Different management approaches
depending on focus– Fee: Not-to-exceed basis– Focus: Consistency, profitability
C. Portfolio work
– Modest volume– Template-driven, scaled by significance
to client– Fee: Negotiated budget approach within
bands– Focus on factors that drive variability using KM,
especially in budget
D. One-off work
– Low volume– Segment work to manage by uncertainty level– Fee: Cross-section of approaches by phases or
parts, including hourly rate– Focus on uncertainty, agility, communication, and
integration with LPM
Emphasize Project
Management
Emphasize Knowledge
Management
EmphasizeProcess
Improvement
Sig
nif
ican
ce
Uncertainty HighLow
A
C
D
Use a mix of techniques and pricing to span the uncertainty space
B
11© 2014 All Rights ReservedJames R. Buckley | james@qlexconsulting.com | (310)489-9266
Conclusion
Focus on costs, uncertainty, and materiality as the driving factors for managing the delivery of legal services.
Use three simple tools to become smarter in managing your own work and evaluating outside counsel:
– Execution checklist
– First Principles
– The Significance/Uncertainty Heat Map
Align management approaches (LPM, KM, and PI) and fee structure to the profile of the work in the Significance/Uncertainty Heat Map
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12© 2014 All Rights ReservedJames R. Buckley | james@qlexconsulting.com | (310)489-9266
Background materials
13© 2014 All Rights ReservedJames R. Buckley | james@qlexconsulting.com | (310)489-9266
The parade of legal management ideas
Early Case Assessment
Convergence
Knowledge ManagementSix Sigma (PI)
Legal Project Management
Alternative Fee Agreements
Strategic Risk Management
Recoveries Initiative
“[T]he ACC Value Challenge is based on the concept that law departments can use management practices that enhance the value of legal service spending; and that law firms can reduce their costs to corporate clients and still maintain strong profitability.”
“Key Value Levers” Aligning Relationships Value-based Fee Structures Staffing and Training Practices BudgetingProject Management Process ImprovementUse of Technology Data ManagementKnowledge Management Change Management
Source: The New Reality: Turning Risk into Opportunity through the DuPont Legal Model(5th ed.)
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14© 2014 All Rights ReservedJames R. Buckley | james@qlexconsulting.com | (310)489-9266
Several related approaches systematically examine processes to eliminate “waste” from processes in business
– Lean: A streamlining technique developed by Toyota in the 1990s
Focuses on process flow to eliminate “waste”
– Six Sigma: A set of process improvement techniques, developed by Motorola in 1986 and popularized by GE
Improve quality by identifying and removing the causes of“defects” (errors) and minimizing “variability”
– Business Process Improvement: Initiative launched by IBM in 1984
Improve service and support by requiring their processesto be at least as good as their manufacturing counterparts
Process improvement typically includes the following steps:
(1) Identify the need for change (5) Gather feedback (2) Analyze the current process (6) Analyze results (3) Obtain management commitment/ support (7) Make improvements (4) Create an improvement strategy (8) Continuously monitor against benchmarks
In a nutshell: “process improvement”
Waste = Defects, overproduction, waiting, non-utilized talent, transportation, inventory, motion, extra processing
15© 2014 All Rights ReservedJames R. Buckley | james@qlexconsulting.com | (310)489-9266
In a nutshell: “knowledge management”
KM: Identifying, capturing and reusing information pertinent to the more efficient delivery of legal services obtained by prior experience and other pathways
In firms, focus formerly on form files and work-product libraries
In matters, addresses uncertainty by identifyingrecurring patterns or templates
– Understand the common elements
– Identify sources of variability affecting outcomes
Practice groups and standing teams are natural repositories for KM
Important targets for KM include
– Cost and budget data that can be mined for future use in other matters
– Lessons-learned following the conclusion of matters
How do you capture and reuse the know-how you develop in your practice?
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16© 2014 All Rights ReservedJames R. Buckley | james@qlexconsulting.com | (310)489-9266
In a nutshell: “project management”
A formal methodology, applied with varying degrees of formality
Starts with client business objectives, requirements, assumptions, and constraints, and establishes the definition of “success”
Develops a plan for achieving objectives with the efficient use of resources, within constraints set by client
During execution, the team balances the interactive relationship among scope, schedule, and cost
Progress is monitored to assure objectives are being addressed and business case for the legal solution remains valid
A circle is drawn around all parties with an interest in the work or its outcome; team engages in effective, continuing communications with these “stakeholders”
Addresses uncertainty by breaking the matter down into buckets of different kinds of uncertainty, and managing each accordingly
Quality
Scope
Cost Schedule
Adapted from Project Management Institute
17© 2014 All Rights ReservedJames R. Buckley | james@qlexconsulting.com | (310)489-9266
James R. Buckley is a principal of QLex Consulting Inc. He is an experienced consultant with an extensive track record in counseling Fortune 500 and AmLaw 200 firms in the application of business techniques to the practice of law, including training and managing culture change within legal teams. For nearly 20 years, he was Vice President & Associate General Counsel of Lockheed Martin Corporation, where he had extensive experience managing complex litigation. Originally trained at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, he is the author of the seminal articles on legal project management published in the ACC Docket in 2005.
“The practice of law is not an end in itself; it is a means for helping clients achieve their business purposes by managing risks, pursuing opportunities, and securing business operations.”
Contact info: james@qlexconsulting.com Cell: 310-489-9266
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