Legal Research

"Legal Project Management (Part 17): Warning signs"

This post was written by Steve Barrett: "In an hourly billing environment, few incentives exist to be alert for warning signs of threats to matter schedules or costs.  More than a generation of lawyers has practiced without the pressures of creating and tracking budgets.  With the recent client pressures on value, outright costs and timeliness, this is changing.

Even lawyers who are good matter planners and budget estimators rarely watch for early warning signs.  But business analysts see such signs as critical, and sometimes use the phrase "canary in a coal mine," as explained at one popular website:...

Just as miners needed to look for signs of silent, odorless, and lethal gases, lawyers in the "new normal" must be especially alert to precursors of trouble that can upset the best plans and budgets, including:...

Many of these symptoms can be addressed or rectified in real time.  Improved communications are vital.  Too many problems are detected after it's too late to cure or correct them.  Solutions include:...

Ultimately, these vital skills must become automatic.  One way to start is with project management training."

Full text and active links are available by clicking on the author's name.

Source: Legal Business Development, 17 November 2010, reproduced with permission of Jim Hassett.

Full post as published by Stark County Law Library Blawg on November 18, 2010 (boomark / email).