Legal project management (LPM) is a key element of SmartPaTH™. Many law firms have been slow to adopt the project management principles that were embraced by other professional services firms years ago, but that’s how Thompson Hine differs.
With SmartPaTH, we use a formal, disciplined LPM process to define, plan and execute cost-efficient, successful engagements. A typical engagement using our LPM tools and methodologies includes the following steps, each undertaken in partnership with the client:
- Define the scope of the matter or engagement, including key dates, decision points, deliverables, risks and uncertainties, appropriate staffing and accountabilities
- Create a detailed work plan and budget
- Monitor progress against work plan and budget during the full course of the engagement
- Conduct a meaningful post-engagement review to capture lessons learned and efficiencies for subsequent engagements
We draw on a variety of LPM resources to effectively manage every matter or engagement. Our distinctive advantages include:
- Our Chief Practice Innovation Officer, who oversees the development, implementation and execution of the processes and tools that empower our legal teams. He even works with clients upon request to foster LPM best practices within their own organizations.
- Our proprietary budget and work plan tool that uses custom matter-type work plans to establish a breakdown of the work, estimate hours, assign resources to tasks and formulate a budget. Use of this tool typically reduces the time necessary to develop a realistic, detailed budget and work plan from days to, in some cases, hours.
- Our exclusive matter and portfolio management tool that ensures seamless communication. This resource makes it easy to generate a wide variety of reports for monitoring the progress of a matter or portfolio of matters and keeping our clients up to date.