LAW-2975 Process Improvement and Legal Project Management
Employers and clients increasingly expect lawyers to deliver legal services with greater efficiency and effectiveness. You can learn how to do so, and gain competitive advantages in the marketplace, by learning process improvement and legal project management. Process improvement uses a disciplined approach and structure that helps us determine the best way to carry out a certain kind of work to achieve efficiency, excellent quality of work and service, a high probability of successful outcomes, and predictability. Project management is a method for ensuring that, for a particular project (e.g., a litigation matter or a transaction), we use the best process to manage schedules, staff, and deliverables (e.g., documents). Key methodologies, approaches, and tools will be covered in a manner where both the concepts and the application of them will be addressed. Using examples and case studies found in the law firms and legal departments, this course will explore how lawyers can use process improvement and legal project management to price, perform, and deliver legal services more efficiently and effectively. The course is taught by lecture, simulations, and in-class exercises. The final exam is a two-part case study. Successful completion of the course also qualifies students for a Legal Lean Sigma Yellow Belt Certification by the Legal Lean Sigma Institute.