Project Management and Technology: a match made in heaven?

There has been an explosion in recent years of new services, products and approaches to legal work which have revolutionised the market and fundamentally changed how lawyers work, the skills prized in legal teams and how teams are structured. The next logical step on this journey is examining more closely not just how individual solutions can support a team, but how these solutions can best work together to provide a holistic and efficient service.

A big problem facing many lawyers at the moment, whether in private practice or in-house, is managing an increasing workload, which seems to be expanding by the day. Last year, a poll by Realm Recruit revealed that nine out of ten lawyers surveyed said a more manageable workload would be a top priority when looking for a new role.

In addition to the ‘usual’ to-do list, lawyers are also increasingly being asked to tackle complex environmental, social and governance, or ESG, issues for clients. These are multi-faceted and can encompass a plethora of issues, such as sustainability and a complex and ever evolving regulatory landscape.

We will go on to talk about how technology can create fantastic solutions for busy lawyers, but don’t let us forget that the growing evolution of technology also contributes to a lawyers’ workload in a myriad of ways. For example, in contentious matters, technology creates much more evidence to trawl through than ever before. In written evidence to Parliament, the Serious Fraud Office last year cited the largest case on its system has 48 million documents. 14 years ago, the average case opened by the SFO would involve around two million documents.

Creating efficiencies and managing the sheer volume of information available has to be a priority for lawyers and many individuals simply come up with their own ways of managing, and prioritising their workload, and ensuring their wider team stays on track. These individuals might not recognise they are ‘project managing’, but the skills they are employing in these instances are project management skills. We are seeing an increase in legal teams looking outside at external support to ensure projects stay on track.

Utilising LPM

Legal project management, or LPM, involves applying project management principles to the legal sector's service delivery, along with newer, customised methodologies developed specifically for legal projects. The primary aspect of a legal project manager's role is collaborating with the legal team and overseeing daily tasks such as planning, estimating, tracking issues, risks, and actions, scheduling meetings, managing documents, and ensuring resources are available as needed. While traditional project management skills like planning, reporting, and action tracking are common in legal projects, expertise in document management is essential due to the heavy reliance on documents in legal work.

In today's digital age, knowledge of legal technology is crucial since many documents are now stored on digital platforms. Typically, these documents are housed on collaboration portals and may involve the use of artificial intelligence or machine learning to condense data sets - for document reviews for acquisitions or disputes, for example. We are also seeing LPM increasingly converge and encompass sophisticated technological advancements to deliver legal matters. It’s where this synergy happens – embracing the methodologies and practices of legal practice management with technology that we see real results for lawyers and legal teams.