Project Management for Lawyers...

© Practising Law Institute

CORPORATE LAW AND PRACTICECourse Handbook Series

Number B-2146

Project Managementfor Lawyers 2015

Co-ChairsHal Clarke

Susan Raridon Lambreth

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Legal Project Management From An In-House Lawyer’s Perspective

Hal Clarke

Wells Fargo & Co.

If you find this article helpful, you can learn more about the subject by going to www.pli.edu to view the on demand program or segment for which it was written.

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BACKGROUND

• Project Management is a Tool for Organizing Work to Achieve Planned Outcomes – In-House Lawyers Participate in and on Occasion Lead Workstreams in a Project or in managing legal matters

• Project Management Tools are Utilized at Various Levels of the Organization

○ Enterprise wide

○ Business Division

○ Line Of Business

○ Staff Support Unit

Legal

• Matter Management

• Project Management Tools are Adapted to Fit the Circum-stances and Needs

○ Complexity of Project

○ Numbers of People Involved

○ Utility in Breaking Work into Tasks for:

Assignment

Sequencing

Identifying interdependencies

Tracking Progress

Identifying and Dealing with Problems or Unantici-pated consequences

Identifying Measures of Success and Tracking them

Identifying and Preserving Learnings

• Library of Projects and Learnings

• Companies Rely on Project Management Professionals

○ Complete Projects Successfully

○ Manage Risk

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• When Companies Use Project Management

○ Mandated Dollar Thresholds

Enterprise

Business Division

○ Other Drivers

Complexity

Risk Management

Multiple Business Lines

• Enterprise Level Project Examples

○ Acquisitions

○ Merger Integrations

○ New Regulation or Process with Cross Business Division Impacts

• Business Division Project Examples

○ Creation of Shared Services or Center of Excellence

○ Large Scale Technology Replacement Efforts

• Line Of Business Project Examples

○ New Product

○ New Regulation

• Coordination of Legal Work

○ In-House and Outside Counsel

○ Across Teams In-House

• Litigation

○ Major matters

○ Clear division of tasks and accountability

e-discovery and other litigation services

legal workstreams

○ Case plan

○ Budgets

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○ Alternative Fee Arrangements

Bidding on portfolios of matters

Bidding on a single complex matter

• Other Matters referred to Outside Counsel

○ Responsibility of In-House Lawyer to Plan and Manage the Handling of the Matter

○ Formal Resolution Plan for Significant or Complex Matters

CASE STUDIES

• Project to Create Center of Excellence Creating Workproduct to Support Multiple Business Lines in a Business Division

• Legal Review of Proposed Work Relocation and Redesign Process

• Alternative Fee Arrangements

• In-House Lawyer Competency in Managing a Matter Sent to Outside Counsel

• Expectations of Outside Counsel in hourly fee matter

○ Steps Expected of Outside Counsel

○ Resolution Plan Matters

MULTIPLE BUSINESS LINE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE

• Project Plan Development and Leadership

○ Division Business Integration Team

Strategic Planning

Project Management

○ Leader is an EVP and Member of Division Operating Committee

○ Team includes 40 professionals

• Examples of Projects

○ Cross Business Unit Strategic Initiatives

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○ Division Specific Merger Integration

• Elements of Project Management

○ Project Scope and Definition

○ Project Structure

○ Project Stakeholders and Participants

○ Project Approach and Milestones

○ Issue Management

○ Risk Management

○ Project Plan

○ Change Management

○ Discipline in managing changes to Project Plan

○ Plan for implementing change required by new process or procedure

○ Project Status Reporting

○ Implementation Readiness

○ Post Implementation Review

(Note: The image below is an example of a Project Charter template; detailed and legible information is set out on subsequent pages.)

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Overall Goals

Define and implement a process for the review, approval, and distribution of [Business Process and Workproduct] that integrates all stakeholders into a common, streamlined process with the following outcomes:

Supports [single process] to support [lines of business including client facing representatives and clients]

Streamlines reviews by Legal, Risk and Compliance Achieves timely distribution of process [Workproduct] to

internal and external audiences Establishes agreed-upon service level agreement (SLAs)

Key Activities

Baseline existing process and stakeholders. Define a process for review and approval of [Workproduct] by

Risk / Legal/ Compliance. Define a review process by other constituents Define process, roles and responsibilities for dissemination of

[Workproduct] across LOBs.

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Define process, roles and responsibilities for dissemination of [Workproduct] to clients and other external audiences,

Define a plan of action to apply the new process and implement the plan.

Develop and implement SLAs.

Scope

In scope: TBD – New process is distribution channel-agnostic (independent of distribution channel used). Process covers all [Workproduct] Out of Scope: [Identify work or issues that should not be covered by the plan]

Key Deliverables

Deliverables: Baseline of existing [Workproduct] dissemination process in

each LOB Redesigned process for the distribution of [Workproduct] ,

including the defined role of Risk/Legal/Compliance, Marketing and Communications in the review and approval of [Workproduct]

Plans necessary to support the launch of the redesigned process – including communications and rollout

Future state needs for[Workproduct] SLAs Implementation of new process

Milestones (need to validate): Baseline of current state [Date] Definition of future state vision [Date] Definition of redesigned process [Date] Recommendations socialized [Date] Redesigned process implemented [Date]

Risks

Availability of key resources/stakeholders Ability to smoothly transition from old to new process

(implementation risk) Availability of tools (e.g., workflow) to support monitoring of

process performance

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Interdependencies

[Other identified ] work stream

Key dates and regular meeting schedule

First meeting – [Date] Recurring meetings – [Dates]

Team Structure and Composition

• LOB Executive Leadership ○ Leaders of LOBs included in project ○ Program Manager: Division Program Manager ○ Project Manager:[Name of Project Manager]

• Steering Committee ○ LOB Executive Leadership members ○ Division Legal ○ Division Compliance ○ Divisional Marketing ○ LOB business leaders ○ LOB Marketing ○ LOB Compliance

• Work Teams ○ Process

Business Point of Contact

• LOB business rep Core Team

• LOB reps

• Program Support ○ Legal Entity


• LOB business rep

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Core Team

• LOB reps

• Legal rep

• Program Support ○ Technology


• LOB business rep Core Team

• LOB reps

• Technology rep

• Program Support

• Tools and Service Business Point of Contact

• LOB rep Core Team

• LOB reps

• Program Support

Examples of Questions

CURRENT STATE 1. What is the current process by LOB? 2. Who owns the current process and who is the customer? 3. How are Legal and Risk/Compliance involved in the

review/approval process? Are these roles appropriate? 4. How are Marketing and Product involved? 5. Do different types of the [Workproduct] have different

requirements? 6. What are the licensing requirements to [conduct the process

and create the Workproduct]? 7. What mechanisms exist to ensure timely functioning of the

[process]? 8. What are the processes to distribute the [Workproduct]?

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FUTURE STATE 1. Who will own this process – single [Division] owner or LOB

owners? 2. What are the critical success factors? 3. Should there be a single Legal and Risk/Compliance review of

the [Workproduct] or reviews by LOB support units? 4. Who will own the future process and respective SLAs

Major Activities

• Baseline existing process and stakeholders • Define process, roles and responsibilities for distribution of the

[Workproduct] across LOBs • Develop SLAs. Implement SLAs • Define process, roles and responsibilities for dissemination

distribution of [Workproduct] • Define a plan of action to apply the new process and implement

the plan

PERIODIC REPORTS TO STEERING COMMITTEE (ILLUSTRATIVE)

Accomplishments

1. Define senior leadership. 2. Integrate activities across 4 LOBs and 109 team members to

create unified, consistent approach. 3. Simplify governance structures from 27 existing committees,

and integrating people from across [Division] into one governance process.

4. Standardize [Workproduct] methodologies across LOBs in key areas.

5. Understand the [Workproduct] produced across [Division] today.

6. Innovate across [LOBs]. 7. Broad acceptance and collaboration to move in the new

direction.

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Delivered [Date] Status

Establish top-level leader roles and accountabilities.

Top-level leader roles and accountabilities identified. Discussion with Legal and Risk in progress. Announcements pending approval.

Create shared Policy Committee.

Committee formed with [Name] and [Name] as co-chairs. Committee operations are being defined by co-chairs.

Create [Named] Committee. Committee created with [Names] as co-chairs. Charter and membership drafted and under review.

Create sub- committees.

Recommendations on the committee structures, roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities are underway. Charter drafted and under review.

Delivered [Date] Status

Align [process] methodologies for each work team.

[Identified Processes] are defining standard methodologies [Named Process] is also being integrated across committees rather than be a standalone group.

Establish coordination processes across all committees.

Coordination process for committees will be complete by [Date].

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Workstreams and Timelines

Implementation Readiness Assessment

• Project Overview

• Technology Readiness

• Operational Readiness

• Team Member Readiness

• Client Readiness

• Post Implementation Support

• Remaining Activities

• Stakeholder Sign-off

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Post Implementation Review

Project Results Comparison of expected project results to actual project results

Expected Results Actual Results

Performance Category Success & Items for Improvement

Lessons Learned & Recommendations

Staffing/Training Success:

Improvement:

Customer Experience Success:

Improvement:

Team Member Experience

Success:

Legal Project Plan

Plan to support aggregation of similar work from multiple business lines housed in different legal entities

• Understand the proposal, business objectives and timelines

• Identify the Legal Workstreams ○ Basic Due Diligence – Identify current legal entity providers

of processes and users of those processes which make up the Work

○ Legal and Contractual Limitations – Identify the statutory, regulatory and contractual limits that would apply to the proposed aggregation and relocation of the Work and develop plans to address these limits

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○ Supervision and Licensing – Identify the supervisory and licensing requirements with respect to the Work; develop plans to meet supervision and licensing requirements

○ Tax issues – Identify any tax issues raised by the Work aggregation and relocation. Develop plans to address those issues

○ Employment issues – Identify any employment law issues raised by the Work aggregation and relocation proposal. Develop plans to address those issues

○ Agreements – Draft the appropriate third party and intercompany agreements required to implement the Work aggregation

○ Determine experts needed to complete each workstream ○ Initial Orientation and Planning Meeting ○ Periodic Check-In Meetings for check-ins as to

○ Progress/Milestones ○ Problems ○ Interdependencies

○ Project Management Support when needed ○ Project Completion and Signoff ○ Project Review and Debrief

Alternative Fee Arrangements

• Portfolio of Matters ○ Wells Fargo from time to time requests proposals from firms

to handle a portfolio of matters. Wells Fargo reviews submitted proposals, selects the firm or firms it feels can provide excellent legal support at a reasonable and over the portfolio fair cost, and enters into an MOU with the selected firm or firms.

○ In responding to an RFP, Wells Fargo expects firms to employ case management planning and budgeting skills and if selected to manage the handling of each case covered by the MOU consistently with the MOU.

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• Individual Complex Matters – Single Case AFA ○ Pilot with general litigation matters ○ Expected life of matter fees $250K and above. ○ Concept:

Divide Handling of Case into Stages Agree on case strategy and agree on a fixed fee for each

stage ○ Steps for Selecting a Firm to Handle a Matter:

Identify Firms to Invite to Bid Solicit Proposals Review Firm Submissions Revise Proposal Solicitation Review Revised Firm Submissions Select Firm and execute MOU Notification/Feedback to other bidding Firms

Traditional Hourly Fee Basis Matters

In-House Lawyer Competency in Managing a Matter sent to Outside Counsel – Expectation for In-house Lawyers in a Wells Fargo Division within the Law Department

Manages quality and cost of outside legal support by:

• Determining what work should be handled by outside counsel taking into account expertise and resources needed as well as availability of in-house legal resources.

• Complying with all Law Department policies governing the selection of outside counsel. Selecting outside counsel best suited to provide cost effective, high quality legal support, giving consideration to minority and women owned law firms.

• Separating from the assignment any work better handled by another provider, such as e-mail review, and utilizing an approved vendor for that work.

• Setting up and periodically updating the matter in the Law Department matter management system in accordance with Law Department policies and procedures.

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• Analyzing the work to be sent to outside counsel identifying what issues need to be handled by outside counsel and what outcomes Wells Fargo is looking for; determining and communicating what staffing by the firm is appropriate encouraging the use of women and minority lawyers in the handling of the matter.

• Communicating clearly to the responsible lawyer at the selected firm the work for which the firm is being engaged and defining the expected outcomes and deliverables.

• Managing access to others at Wells Fargo and coordinating work performed by Wells Fargo employees such as data or document gathering.

• Negotiating the costs, and when appropriate under Law Depart-ment policies, obtaining a budget for the matter.

• Assuming primary responsibility for managing matters and the outside counsel handling them. Directly and consistently overseeing the responsible outside lawyer in the staffing, handling and progress of the matter. Updating any matter budgets as appropriate.

• Reviewing invoices on a timely and careful basis to make sure that: the work done was the work planned, the staffing of the work was appropriate, Wells Fargo’s policies were followed and the cost of the work was reasonable and in conformity with expectations and budget.

• Negotiating where appropriate adjustments to invoices.

• Maintaining an objective view of the firm’s performance; addressing issues promptly with the responsible firm partner; recommending a change when appropriate.

• Gathering the work product for inclusion in Law Department archives which can be made available to other sections.

• Updating the Outside Counsel database with information about the experience with the firm at the conclusion of the matter.

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Expectations of Outside Counsel in Working with Wells Fargo Lawyers in the handling of cases on an hourly basis.

Steps:

• Understand the role that Outside Counsel id expected to play and what work will be handled by inside counsel.

• As to the work to be handled by outside counsel, determine the appropriate staffing so that the right level of legal professional is handling the appropriate level of work so that the matter is staffed appropriately and efficiently.

• Map out a work plan for the work to be done, identifying interdependencies, particularly those arising between work being handled by outside counsel and work being handled by in-house counsel.

• Establish regular check-ins on the work so that in-house counsel is aware of the progress of the matter, the work being done, the issues which are arising any adjustments needed and billing can be discussed.

• At the conclusion of the matter, review the matter outcome, the plan, changes in the plan and lessons learned.

Formal Resolution Plans

• Large or complex matters.

• Components of the plan: ○ Case summary ○ Strategy Outline ○ Estimated Life of Matter Cost ○ Quarterly Cost Estimates

• Ongoing monitor of plan adherence to the plan and revisions ○ Regular reviews ○ Revisions of plan as necessary

Updated strategy Cost variances

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• Evaluation of Firm Performance ○ Outcome ○ Quality of Plan, Oversight and Communication ○ Cost

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NOTES

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