Talk strategy to any managing partner at a corporate law firm these days and efficiency is one of the buzz words you are guaranteed to hear. Advising on complex deals for an increasingly international client base always keen to keep a lid on costs, law firms have been taking steps to ensure that work is delivered not only on time and on budget, but also by making the best use of resources. Enter legal project managers.

The number of project managers employed by leading law firms has grown rapidly in recent months, with Hogan Lovells, Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) and Linklaters among those on a recruitment drive.

Although UK firms have arguably been slow to wake up to the benefits of project managers –firms such as Baker & McKenzie carved the way with non-lawyer managers on deals back in 2010, and the role is more commonplace in jurisdictions such as Australia and the US – many firms are now very much on board. Linklaters is looking to grow its existing team of 15 to around 40 over a short period of time, while Hogan Lovells has plans for expansion into a broader range of practice areas.

The basic premise underlying the use of project managers is that they look after the operational side of transactions, allowing partners to focus on the legal technicalities of the work. Beyond this, firms are using the role to drive through efficiency in different ways. Project managers have found a niche in particular among litigation and corporate practices, where matters can often be fast paced and unwieldy.

Linklaters, for example, has introduced process tracking experts, who identify ways that transactions can be completed more efficiently both in terms of costs and resourcing through good practice or technology. The firm has used project managers across 25 jurisdictions so far, and, although the resource is primarily focused on its larger offices, it is looking to expand the offering in all regions.

Hogan Lovells has piloted project management software in its litigation and corporate practices, as well as rolling out a real-time costs management tool in London and Washington, allowing it to monitor costs as they come in. Last year the firm also introduced project management training for partners globally run by external project management professionals and Christine Siler, a legal project manager at the firm.

Meanwhile, having already hired one project manager in its London disputes practice, HSF is looking to expand the position across each of its practice groups and in several other offices. The firm also has three project managers in Australia, where the initiative started, as well as one in Asia. In addition to helping lawyers improve efficiency, they are involved in price negotiations with clients.

“We’ve had legal project managers working within the firm for three years and have had notable client successes where they have added real value,” comments Richard King, HSF’s corporate services director. “Our project managers help achieve greater efficiency and cost certainty for our clients and the firm across a range of matters.”
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, which previously piloted the use of project managers in its litigation team, has recruited “a small number” of project managers and is considering rolling out the function more widely, alongside using its new Manchester-based legal services centre to run projects more efficiently.

Meanwhile, Clifford Chance, which already uses project managers on a variety of matters across a number of its offices, is looking to bulk up in this area, as is Pinsent Masons, which has recently hired several project managers deployed mainly in its litigation and transactional practices.

Others, such as Dentons, have eschewed the recruitment of dedicated project managers, preferring instead to train their own lawyers in this area. The firm is currently considering rolling out an online project management training course.

The typical profile of the project managers employed by law firms to date has been a background in a professional services industry such as accounting or consultancy, with a qualification in project management.

“For our project managers, it is essential that they talk the same language as our lawyers and are also highly capable in their area of expertise,” explains Linklaters’ head of business improvement, Laurence Muscat. “For this reason we adopt a combination of internal and external training both in project management and the software that is used to support our lawyers and clients.”

There are several core skills that project managers are relied on to bring, namely budgeting, communication and feedback, which are all directed towards increasing time and cost efficiency for both firm and client. “Project managers can be ears and eyes on the ground in terms of issues, resourcing challenges and tracking activity to help partners and deal teams in their regular catch up with clients,” says Mike Polson, the head of Ashurst’s Glasgow office. “They can provide a lot of information and reporting that can be fed back to the clients.”

Ashurst currently has five project managers working in its UK banking practice and brings in others on an ad-hoc basis for big transactions. It is looking to roll out the project manager function globally across all practice areas.

At a time when global firms need to prove consistency as well as breadth, project managers can bring cohesion to complex mandates. “Tasks need to be of a certain scale to warrant the use of project management resources, and with that scale comes a real need for consistency in outputs, deliverables, reports and the like,” comments Baker & McKenzie Sydney-based partner Anthony Foley. “Project managers bring that consistency every time while lawyers traditionally attach less value to this.”

Freeing up partner time

Used correctly, project managers can manage both internal communications on a project and some external relations with clients, including anything from scoping the resource requirements before the project starts to collecting and processing client feedback after completion.

Polson identifies project managers as having a role even before the firm has secured the work. They are able to recommend resources for the project as well as ensuring the availability of teams on the ground – a role that has typically been managed by a partner previously.

Partners’ time is also freed up over the course of the client matter if project managers are used to establish clear communication channels between the team as well as organising calendars and keeping abreast of mini-deadlines, Polson suggests. “The benefit is that it is somebody’s area of focus and expertise rather than expecting the lawyer to do this in addition to his or her legal work,” he adds.

Following deal completion, firms are increasingly using project managers to amass data and feedback from clients to conduct a review, which can be used to improve similar transactions in the future.

“We tell partners that at the end of the day the project managers are there to help save you from the day-to-day noise of running a matter,” says Bakers’ global head of project management, Stuart Dodds. “You still have to regularly engage with the client but we can help you prepare the materials to communicate.”

Conflict of roles

For lawyers, judged on the strength of their client list, there is sometimes a reticence in allowing project managers face-to-face time with clients, or a scepticism about what they can bring to a deal.

Bakers, for example, has used a number of internal metrics to measure the impact of project managers. These include looking at the role played in winning client engagement; final cost against the preliminary budget for a project; and profitability in terms of whether the firm was able to recover more than it would have done without the individual. The firm also uses a tracker to monitor communication with clients throughout the duration of a project, and client satisfaction at the end. Bakers has found tangible evidence of project managers improving lawyer buy-in where they have assisted on deals.

However, according to those working in the area, a positive partnership response depends on the way in which legal project managers are introduced to a firm. “Legal project management is about changing behaviour,” explains Dodds. “You can either describe it as a fundamental shift or as an enhancement or refinement of what you already do, and I believe that the latter approach has had more success (and is closer to the truth).

“You are saying to the lawyers ‘you are doing these things already but you need to do them more systematically and deliberately’.”

Furthermore, lawyers working with project managers must be made to feel that the role isn’t going to add to their workload but in fact do the opposite, says Polson. If project managers are able to have the “support mindset” to make lawyers’ lives easier then they are far more likely to receive a positive response than if they are seen as a layer of bureaucracy. 

“Partners understand the process more when they see that it is client led”, notes Hogan Lovells’ arbitration and litigation head, Michael Davison. “You don’t get 100% of the partnership clapping but we have 90%.

“It is about getting the balance right. There will always be opportunities for junior lawyers to develop their on-the-job project management skills but we do not need to turn them into expert project managers because they are really there to be expert lawyers who just need to have a knowledge and awareness of project management.”
Client expectations

But while law firms’ project management offerings are rapidly expanding and becoming more sophisticated, it is not before time, with many clients having had such roles for years before their advisers woke up to the benefits. “Clients think of our work as projects whereas lawyers think about their work as the resolution of a legal problem or the application of a legal skill,” reasons Foley. “Clients have a project to get done, to which we are just one input. The deployment of project management skills and resources therefore automatically better aligns us with our clients’ own thinking.”

And while it is not uncommon for a client to bring a project manager to the table, many law firms have yet to wake up to the fact that such roles need not be merely back-office functions. “Corporates have been well aware of the importance and advantages of efficient project management for a long time and can see the advantage of deploying a project manager rather than a more junior lawyer on big tasks,” adds Foley. 

Many clients now request in-depth detail of a firm’s project management techniques in more complex pitches such as panel work. “It’s almost like a qualification round you have to go through to get onto some of the global panels,” says Davison.

The future

In addition to the introduction of legal project managers many firms are continuing with internal training for partners and more junior lawyers in the area. Hogan Lovells, for example, is rolling out an online project management module for lawyers at the end of the summer as well as the face-to-face training it already runs across its corporate and litigation practices.

“I think you are going to see a lot of project management development around legal services centres,” Davison predicts. “When you move into that area of legal services you are going to need ever-more sophisticated project management in law firms if you are to make the most of those areas. Clients say ‘that’s great for price but what techniques is it based on?’”

While reticence on the part of lawyers worried about allowing others in on key client relationships may remain, the benefits of bringing in project managers on complex matters is clear. Freeing up expensive partner time to focus on delivering legal advice and improving efficiency means the use of project managers is only likely to grow over time.

Talk strategy to any managing partner at a corporate law firm these days and efficiency is one of the buzz words you are guaranteed to hear. Advising on complex deals for an increasingly international client base always keen to keep a lid on costs, law firms have been taking steps to ensure that work is delivered not only on time and on budget, but also by making the best use of resources. Enter legal project managers.

The number of project managers employed by leading law firms has grown rapidly in recent months, with Hogan Lovells, Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) and Linklaters among those on a recruitment drive.

Although UK firms have arguably been slow to wake up to the benefits of project managers –firms such as Baker & McKenzie carved the way with non-lawyer managers on deals back in 2010, and the role is more commonplace in jurisdictions such as Australia and the US – many firms are now very much on board. Linklaters is looking to grow its existing team of 15 to around 40 over a short period of time, while Hogan Lovells has plans for expansion into a broader range of practice areas.

The basic premise underlying the use of project managers is that they look after the operational side of transactions, allowing partners to focus on the legal technicalities of the work. Beyond this, firms are using the role to drive through efficiency in different ways. Project managers have found a niche in particular among litigation and corporate practices, where matters can often be fast paced and unwieldy.

Linklaters, for example, has introduced process tracking experts, who identify ways that transactions can be completed more efficiently both in terms of costs and resourcing through good practice or technology. The firm has used project managers across 25 jurisdictions so far, and, although the resource is primarily focused on its larger offices, it is looking to expand the offering in all regions.

Hogan Lovells has piloted project management software in its litigation and corporate practices, as well as rolling out a real-time costs management tool in London and Washington, allowing it to monitor costs as they come in. Last year the firm also introduced project management training for partners globally run by external project management professionals and Christine Siler, a legal project manager at the firm.

Meanwhile, having already hired one project manager in its London disputes practice, HSF is looking to expand the position across each of its practice groups and in several other offices. The firm also has three project managers in Australia, where the initiative started, as well as one in Asia. In addition to helping lawyers improve efficiency, they are involved in price negotiations with clients.

“We’ve had legal project managers working within the firm for three years and have had notable client successes where they have added real value,” comments Richard King, HSF’s corporate services director. “Our project managers help achieve greater efficiency and cost certainty for our clients and the firm across a range of matters.”
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, which previously piloted the use of project managers in its litigation team, has recruited “a small number” of project managers and is considering rolling out the function more widely, alongside using its new Manchester-based legal services centre to run projects more efficiently.

Meanwhile, Clifford Chance, which already uses project managers on a variety of matters across a number of its offices, is looking to bulk up in this area, as is Pinsent Masons, which has recently hired several project managers deployed mainly in its litigation and transactional practices.

Others, such as Dentons, have eschewed the recruitment of dedicated project managers, preferring instead to train their own lawyers in this area. The firm is currently considering rolling out an online project management training course.

The typical profile of the project managers employed by law firms to date has been a background in a professional services industry such as accounting or consultancy, with a qualification in project management.

“For our project managers, it is essential that they talk the same language as our lawyers and are also highly capable in their area of expertise,” explains Linklaters’ head of business improvement, Laurence Muscat. “For this reason we adopt a combination of internal and external training both in project management and the software that is used to support our lawyers and clients.”

There are several core skills that project managers are relied on to bring, namely budgeting, communication and feedback, which are all directed towards increasing time and cost efficiency for both firm and client. “Project managers can be ears and eyes on the ground in terms of issues, resourcing challenges and tracking activity to help partners and deal teams in their regular catch up with clients,” says Mike Polson, the head of Ashurst’s Glasgow office. “They can provide a lot of information and reporting that can be fed back to the clients.”

Ashurst currently has five project managers working in its UK banking practice and brings in others on an ad-hoc basis for big transactions. It is looking to roll out the project manager function globally across all practice areas.

At a time when global firms need to prove consistency as well as breadth, project managers can bring cohesion to complex mandates. “Tasks need to be of a certain scale to warrant the use of project management resources, and with that scale comes a real need for consistency in outputs, deliverables, reports and the like,” comments Baker & McKenzie Sydney-based partner Anthony Foley. “Project managers bring that consistency every time while lawyers traditionally attach less value to this.”

Freeing up partner time

Used correctly, project managers can manage both internal communications on a project and some external relations with clients, including anything from scoping the resource requirements before the project starts to collecting and processing client feedback after completion.

Polson identifies project managers as having a role even before the firm has secured the work. They are able to recommend resources for the project as well as ensuring the availability of teams on the ground – a role that has typically been managed by a partner previously.

Partners’ time is also freed up over the course of the client matter if project managers are used to establish clear communication channels between the team as well as organising calendars and keeping abreast of mini-deadlines, Polson suggests. “The benefit is that it is somebody’s area of focus and expertise rather than expecting the lawyer to do this in addition to his or her legal work,” he adds.

Following deal completion, firms are increasingly using project managers to amass data and feedback from clients to conduct a review, which can be used to improve similar transactions in the future.

“We tell partners that at the end of the day the project managers are there to help save you from the day-to-day noise of running a matter,” says Bakers’ global head of project management, Stuart Dodds. “You still have to regularly engage with the client but we can help you prepare the materials to communicate.”

Conflict of roles

For lawyers, judged on the strength of their client list, there is sometimes a reticence in allowing project managers face-to-face time with clients, or a scepticism about what they can bring to a deal.

Bakers, for example, has used a number of internal metrics to measure the impact of project managers. These include looking at the role played in winning client engagement; final cost against the preliminary budget for a project; and profitability in terms of whether the firm was able to recover more than it would have done without the individual. The firm also uses a tracker to monitor communication with clients throughout the duration of a project, and client satisfaction at the end. Bakers has found tangible evidence of project managers improving lawyer buy-in where they have assisted on deals.

However, according to those working in the area, a positive partnership response depends on the way in which legal project managers are introduced to a firm. “Legal project management is about changing behaviour,” explains Dodds. “You can either describe it as a fundamental shift or as an enhancement or refinement of what you already do, and I believe that the latter approach has had more success (and is closer to the truth).

“You are saying to the lawyers ‘you are doing these things already but you need to do them more systematically and deliberately’.”

Furthermore, lawyers working with project managers must be made to feel that the role isn’t going to add to their workload but in fact do the opposite, says Polson. If project managers are able to have the “support mindset” to make lawyers’ lives easier then they are far more likely to receive a positive response than if they are seen as a layer of bureaucracy. 

“Partners understand the process more when they see that it is client led”, notes Hogan Lovells’ arbitration and litigation head, Michael Davison. “You don’t get 100% of the partnership clapping but we have 90%.

“It is about getting the balance right. There will always be opportunities for junior lawyers to develop their on-the-job project management skills but we do not need to turn them into expert project managers because they are really there to be expert lawyers who just need to have a knowledge and awareness of project management.”
Client expectations

But while law firms’ project management offerings are rapidly expanding and becoming more sophisticated, it is not before time, with many clients having had such roles for years before their advisers woke up to the benefits. “Clients think of our work as projects whereas lawyers think about their work as the resolution of a legal problem or the application of a legal skill,” reasons Foley. “Clients have a project to get done, to which we are just one input. The deployment of project management skills and resources therefore automatically better aligns us with our clients’ own thinking.”

And while it is not uncommon for a client to bring a project manager to the table, many law firms have yet to wake up to the fact that such roles need not be merely back-office functions. “Corporates have been well aware of the importance and advantages of efficient project management for a long time and can see the advantage of deploying a project manager rather than a more junior lawyer on big tasks,” adds Foley. 

Many clients now request in-depth detail of a firm’s project management techniques in more complex pitches such as panel work. “It’s almost like a qualification round you have to go through to get onto some of the global panels,” says Davison.

The future

In addition to the introduction of legal project managers many firms are continuing with internal training for partners and more junior lawyers in the area. Hogan Lovells, for example, is rolling out an online project management module for lawyers at the end of the summer as well as the face-to-face training it already runs across its corporate and litigation practices.

“I think you are going to see a lot of project management development around legal services centres,” Davison predicts. “When you move into that area of legal services you are going to need ever-more sophisticated project management in law firms if you are to make the most of those areas. Clients say ‘that’s great for price but what techniques is it based on?’”

While reticence on the part of lawyers worried about allowing others in on key client relationships may remain, the benefits of bringing in project managers on complex matters is clear. Freeing up expensive partner time to focus on delivering legal advice and improving efficiency means the use of project managers is only likely to grow over time.