Legal knowledge is one thing. Competence to deliver legal services in a way clients will appreciate is something quite different.

That skill gap is the starting place for Lean Adviser Legal, a new program from Law.com that offers lessons and tools to help lawyers and law firms produce better outcomes, improve efficiency and boost client satisfaction.

The program is a collaboration with Duane Morris litigator Alexander Geisler, co-managing partner of the firm's London office and a defense lawyer with two decades of experience representing efficiency-obsessed auto manufacturers.

Geisler integrated the lean manufacturing discipline he learned in the auto sector and the principles of strategic management to create the Lean Law Program. Subscribers receive access to a self-paced training curriculum and can pursue Lean Adviser Legal Designation to demonstrate they've mastered the methods of lean lawyering.

As Geisler sees it, aspiring lawyers are schooled in black-letter law—even in disciplines they'll never practice—but lack training in project management, goal alignment, budgeting, communication, client engagement and other skills that have never been more essential for the daily practice of law.

“I have used lean methods since I began to represent automakers 25 years ago. I wanted to bring that experience to my colleagues and their clients to help talented lawyers easily deploy processes and tools that can dramatically increase their effectiveness,” Geisler said.

Click here to learn more and sample a Lean Adviser lesson.