April 2010

Thursday, April 22, 2010 to Thursday, April 22, 2010

Over the next 12 months law firms will be looking at ways to retain or boost profitability as clients demand deeper discounts and push for alternative fee arrangements (AFAs) - as such agreements increasingly appear on client wish lists and RFPs. AFAs bring new risk as well as opportunity to a growing number of forward-looking law firms-some that will test the AFA waters in 2010-and others that will dive deeply into the pool. Effective Legal Project Management is a boon to firms looking to control their costs and meet client schedules. It's the appropriate way to monitor and reduce project-related risks, including cost-overrun risks arising in particular from fixed and flat-fee AFAs. Legal Project Management, as laid out by specialist and author Steven B. Levy, consists of a set of easily learned, practical techniques designed specifically for the practice of law-along with a way of thinking about projects from the detail level to your overall project portfolio. Attorneys versed in Legal Project Management can devote their time to adding project, case, and firm value rather than wrestling with their projects.