On Sunday, April 19, 2020, Casey Flaherty, Director of Legal Project Management at the global powerhouse, Baker McKenzie, posted an article called, “When ‘we’ve always done it this way’ is still an option.” You can find it on his “3 Geeks and a Law Blog.”

In his article, Casey makes the case for why the current crisis will lead to an increased demand for Legal Project Management (LPM). Given his role at Baker McKenzie, it’s no surprise this is something he welcomes.

So, my tip for this week? Read Casey’s article…It’s that simple. Casey offers some good food for thought, and he makes a strong case for continuing to develop and implement well-conceived LPM tools and methodologies. I have included a link to his post in the show notes below. Want to watch this tip instead?

A highlight for me? The article underlines the fundamental importance of developing a strong culture of continuous legal process improvement. Firms need to create strong processes to "establish and enforce consistency across the organization" when they’re implementing and delivering effective project management. In short, you need to have a rigorous process for delivering your project management services.

It’s what we’ve been saying for years: Legal Process Improvement and Legal Project Management go hand-in-hand. In fact, Legal Process Improvement is the first piece of the puzzle. Unlike LPM, it delivers independent value (reduced costs, better productivity, higher margins), whether or not you have implemented LPM in your law firm.

Successful project management programs need, as a foundation, a strong culture of continuous legal process improvement. Where’s the value in being a great manager of a horribly inefficient process?

This simple diagram illustrates how we see the intersection between LPI and LPM.

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