Law Firms Look at Process Management
Posted by Arjun ThomasAs reported on Law.com
What do lawyers and general contractors have in common? Nothing yet.
But the idea that the legal profession could look to the processes used by general contractors in completing a job was one raised at an Association of Corporate Counsel Value Challenge meeting in Philadelphia this summer.
Project and process management — in essence the antithesis of the billable-hour model — is a concept being eyed by law firms as they try to ensure they can deliver the efficiency required to make good on their alternative fee arrangements.
A switch to this model will be a “big issue” for law firms given the change in other systems, such as compensation and staffing, that come with it, Altman Weil’s Thomas Clay said. But law firms will have to get over the fear.
Clay said he is advising every client to adopt one of two approaches. They could take a strategic opportunity view and learn how to do this, taking it to the marketplace proactively. The other option, Clay said, is to adopt a strategic necessity approach and be willing to adopt the concept when clients ask for it.
Though it may not be practical to apply a project management system firmwide from the start, it’s possible to get there.
“There is not one single kind of practice that you cannot use an alternative fee on,” Clay said. “We’ve seen it done.”
Moving to a project management style of matter management means lawyers will need to look at projects differently than they do now, he said. There are three basic components to the concept: timeliness, efficiency and meeting the objectives of the project, he said. Knowing the amount of hours a project took tells the firm and the client nothing about how efficiently it was done or whether the objectives were met, Clay said.
Allen P. Waxman of Kaye Scholer, a former general counsel of Pfizer, could take part in the Value Challenge event from both the lawyer and general counsel perspectives. Waxman, in an interview, said the concept of moving toward a process management system is “not rocket science.” It’s a matter of being more purposeful in how attorneys identify and achieve objectives. Lawyers will have to map things out as opposed to bulldozing through projects, Waxman said.
“I actually think the economic realities will kind of demand more of this skill set,” he said.
While it will be valued more highly, Waxman admits the concept of project management isn’t a skill set typically taught to lawyers.
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