For those of you lucky enough to work in an environment that welcomes project management to litigation support, congratulations!  For those of you who don’t have such a luxury, here is what you are missing:  dependable communication and organization.  Project management in litigation support offers many advantages starting with a single point of contact or control on each case or project.  The first benefit of this single point of control is in the area of communications.  A good litigation support project manager should be fluent in both legalese and "geek speak" and should be able to transition easily from one to the other.

Managing Communications
As the point person on communications, the project manager (PM) is charged with ensuring that everyone working on the case or project is aware of the areas for which they are responsible and how their responsibility intersects with the efforts of others.  Think of the number of times busy staff have missed an important task on a project just because no one was sure who exactly had which responsibility.  Throughout a case, from start to finish, the PM is charged with tracking and reporting on each person’s work.  To accomplish this, the PM oversees all areas of communication.  The litigation support PM:

• Contacts members of the team to ensure each member is aware of the tasks assigned
• Aids team members in determining if they will need help in accomplishing tasks in a timely manner 
• Communicates with the legal team to determine how best to prepare for upcoming deadlines
• Regularly contacts the information technology/services team to ensure they (the IT group) are aware of the deadlines of the legal team and to stay informed with regard to any planned service outages on the part of the IT team which may impact the project
• Attends IT change control meetings to ensure this necessary communication takes place 
• Communicates with the litigation support or IT staff of the client, joint defense members and even the opposing counsel

Having a knowledgeable professional to handle these areas of communication goes a long way to ensuring the success of the project.

Managing communication with the internal IT and the legal teams is just a part of the work of the project manager.  Understanding and then organizing the case is critical.  The PM begins the project by meeting with legal team members and determining what the case is about, who from the client and other teams will be involved, what the deadlines for the case are assumed to be, who is scheduled to do the work (for the internal legal team) and what restrictions there may be regarding budget.  The PM then puts together a project plan with all of this information and all of the contact information.  The plan tracks tasks, who is assigned to those tasks and the budget allocated for each task.  The PM gets a sign-off from the head of the legal team, begins the tracking process and provides regular (usually weekly) status reports to the appropriate staff members.

As part of their duties, project managers are responsible for any number of other case-related tasks.  For example, a litigation support PM should be the in-house expert regarding litigation support software or vendor hosting solutions.  In most instances, the project manager is responsible for selecting the vendor, managing the day-to-day interaction with the vendor (communications again), vetting the bills from the vendor and managing any conflict with the vendor over the course of the litigation. 

Managing Training and Trials
An experienced litigation support PM should be the go-to person for litigation application training for the legal team and should be responsible for contacting the necessary trainers at the point when this training will be most beneficial.  Reviewers have specific training needs as do paralegals and others on the legal team.  The emphasis may be different for each group of users.  So while they will all need good basic training, most members of the team will need specialized training to help them best utilize the software to accomplish their tasks.  The client may also require training in the application.  Ensuring the right training is available and offered at the appropriate time is a standard responsibility of the PM. 

Among the many duties of the project manager, one that is unique to the world of litigation is trial management.  In some law firms, the PM is responsible for all aspects of trial setup and breakdown.  In other law firms, the PM’s responsibilities are limited to ensuring that everyone is aware of the timing on the case and who will be responsible for which aspects of the work.  As always, communication and follow-up are the primary duties of the PM. 

Finding That Special Skill
Good project managers possess traits that enable them to keep their heads while keeping everyone else organized.  Successful project managers are assertive without being aggressive, consistent yet flexible and persistent without being rude.  They must understand and organize the diverse aspects of a litigation project and stay focused on the details.  They must be able to use the tools of the PM trade such as the various planning and tracking software programs.  They must also understand litigation software, litigation vendors, the world of litigation and the world of technology.

Where do you find people with these diverse skill sets?  There are several paths to follow.  One is you hire an experienced IT project manager and train him or her in the ways of litigation.  With the right person, this will work if the PM is able to adapt to the more fluctuating needs of litigation.  Another path may be to develop this PM from within your organization.  If you have a technically-oriented paralegal who has an interest, it may be possible to give this person the project management training needed to move into this position.  This choice is often a win-win for the firm and the paralegal.  The law firm gets the paralegal’s legal knowledge, and the paralegal gets the advanced training which will allow him or her a career advance.  On occasion, someone who has been doing this work for a litigation vendor is available.  This person is often a good choice.

For firms still struggling with the inconsistencies of cases being managed by whatever team can be scraped together, there is hope.  Smart, flexible project management can provide a sane, predictable way to reduce the stress and cost of today’s litigations.  Project management doesn’t require a huge staff or a huge budget.  In fact, good project management should reduce cost and staff in the long run.  With the proper staff and training, litigation case management can reduce risks and increase the bottom line.

About our author :: :: ::

Nan Jefferies is a Senior Consultant at eSentio Technologies and has over 20 years of experience leading litigation and practice support efforts for major law firms and vendor organizations.  Prior to joining eSentio, Nan was a consultant at Baker Robbins & Company and also served as the Director of Practice Support Services for Shook, Hardy & Bacon, LLP.   Widely regarded as a leading industry expert, she is well-versed in building litigation support organizations and processes, litigation support assessments, strategy, vendor selection and management.  Nan can be reached at nan.jefferies@esentio.com.