Client Collaboration with Basecamp by 37 Signals

In his popular book, The End of Lawyers? Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services, Richard Susskind wrote this (among many other things) about online collaboration tools: "the central idea was straightforward and important— that a type of website could be set up to enable clients to monitor progress on work being undertaken for them, to look at documents, to offer their own input, and generally to keep in touch."

Whether your clients are in-house counsel for Fortune 500 companies, small, local businesses, or individuals, the need for a solution that allows clients to monitor progress on a matter, look at documents, offer input, and generally communicate with the legal team exists.

For me, 37 Signals' Basecamp has been the answer to effective and efficient matter collaboration with clients of all sizes.One of the problems Richard Susskind identified is that many in-house counsel do not want to use multiple platforms spread across multiple law firms.

Many of my clients already use or are otherwise familiar with Basecamp. More than five million people around the world use Basecamp so chances are pretty good that many of your clients use or are familiar with Basecamp as well. So far, I have found Basecamp to be the best option for collaboration with clients due to its simplicity and effectiveness. I can hardly wait to see what my friends at 37 Signals have done with Basecamp when they release BasecampNext.

Previous posts about Basecamp:

My Experiment with Legal Project Management in the Cloud
5 Web Applications for the Virtual Attorney

Friday Favorites (February 10, 2012)

Friday Favorites is a list of the top 7 articles I read or wrote this week about law, technology, marketing, entrepreneurship, or social media.

1. Western District of Texas Chief Judge Fred Biery's extraordinary "personal statement" in school prayer case. (Tex Parte Blog). 
2. Pepper Hamilton Puts Nonlawyer as Head of Firm: Now we're talking business. (Law and More).
3. Stealthy Legal Startup DocRun Raises $1.1M from Resolute.VC, Don Dodge and Others. (TechCrunch).
4. States Target Foreign Law. (Wall Street Journal).
5. Volatile future will demand law firms bring more to the party. (Legal Leaders Blog).
6. The Wrong End of Lawsuits. (Wall Street Journal).
7. Judge dismisses suit accusing SeaWorld of enslaving whales. (Thompson Reuters News & Insight).

Don't be shocked when it happens in American law firms

The legal world is waking up to the news this morning that the world's first publicly traded law firm, Australia's Slater & Gordon, will purchase UK personal injury firm Russell Jones & Walker under the 2007 Legal Services Act for £53.8m. Although passed in 2007, the Legal Services Act didn't take effect until October 6, 2010, making RJW the UK's first publicly traded law firm. (Press releases from SG and RJW are available here and here.)

In my opinion (and that of others much smarter then me), it is only a matter of time before American law firms are opened up to outside investment. On May 18, 2011, New Yourk personal injury firm Jacoby & Meyers brought suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York challenging New York rules of professional conduct which prohibit outside investment in law firms (that litigation is still pending). Like the New York Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 5.04 of the Texas Rules specifically prohibits outside investment in law firms. 

For an interesting look at the impact of outside investment on law firms see this excellent post at Legal Productivity.

Sound off: will outside investment in American law firms compromise the lawyer-client relationship? 

Friday Favorites (January 27, 2012)

Friday Favorites is a list of the top 7 articles I read or wrote this week about law, technology, marketing, entrepreneurship, or social media.

1. May Lawyers Offer Groupon Deals? New York Ethics Opinion Allows It, with Caveats. (ABA Journal). 
2. Implementing Legal Project Management - The Work Break Down Structure. (Texas Law Blog).
3. A cautionary tale: Don't say "renew" when you mean "extend." (Technology Law Notes).
4. How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work. (New York Times).
5. Dear Google: Crappy Results Like this Don't Give the Impression You Care About Search. (Search Engine Land).
6. Listen to What Innovators Don't Talk About. (Harvard Business Review).
7. Findings from the 4th Annual Law Department Operations Survey. (Inside Counsel).

Implementing Legal Project Management - The Work Breakdown Structure

Last week we defined legal project management (“LPM”) and the reasons why solo and small firm lawyers should implement LPM in their practice. This week, we break down LPM and take a closer look at the work breakdown structure (“WBS”).

The WBS is at the heart of project management. The Project Management Body of Knowledge guide (“PMBOK”) defines the WBS as a “deliverable oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team.” In LPM, this means breaking down the case into its parts and assigning resources and a budget to each part.

In a typical Texas divorce case, a simple WBS may look like the following recognizing, of course, that not all parts may be necessary (for example, a final hearing is not necessary if the case is settled at mediation):

1. Client Intake
2. Original Petition/Answer
3. Temporary Orders
4. Discovery
5. Mediation
6. Final Hearing
7. Final Documents
8. Appeal

This WBS may further be broken down as follows (recognizing that not all tasks may be necessary):

1. Client Intake
1. Initial Consultation
2. Execute Engagement Letter
3. Retainer
2. Original Petition/Answer
1. Draft Original Petition (if petitioner)
2. Draft Original Answer & Counter-Petition for Divorce (if respondent)
3. Temporary Orders
1. Draft Motion for Temporary Orders & Temporary Orders
2. Set Hearing on Motion for Temporary Orders
3. Attempt to Negotiate Temporary Orders
4. Prepare for Hearing on Temporary Orders
5. Hearing on Temporary Orders
4. Discovery
1. Send Request for Disclosure
2. Send Request for Production
3. Send Interrogatories
4. Send Deposition on Written Questions
5. Schedule Oral Depositions
6. Respond to Discovery Requests
5. Mediation
1. Schedule Mediation
2. Attend Mediation
3. If a Mediated Settlement Agreement is Executed:
1. Draft MSA
2. Schedule Prove-Up
3. Draft Final Documents (see below)
4. Attend Prove-Up
5. Record Real Property & Other Security Documents
6. Final Hearing
1. Set Final Hearing
2. Subpoena Witnesses for Final Hearing
3. Prepare for Final Hearing
1. Prepare Witness Outlines
2. Prepare Exhibits
3. Prepare Witnesses and Client
4. Prepare Electronic Presentation of Evidence
4. Attend Final Hearing
7. Final Documents
1. Draft Final Decree of Divorce (and Agreement Incident to Divorce)
2. Draft All Real Property Documents
3. Draft All Personal Property Documents
4. Draft Qualified Domestic Relations Orders
5. Record Real Property & Other Security Documents
8. Appeal

The WBS can be broken down into as much detail as you want. What I have not included above is the corresponding schedule, assigned resources to each task, or a proposed budget for each stage (or task).

The WBS provides a roadmap for you and your client, helps manage your client’s expectations, facilitates communication about the case with your client, and provides a template for a repeatable process that will improve your efficiency and cost estimates in future cases.

Spotting probable trends in the legal market from an unlikely source

In his book The End of Lawyers? Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services, Richard Susskind wrote:

it is from clients that we can glean probable trends in the legal market. It is client demand for new working practices and new efficiencies that will ultimately incline law firms to adopt new technologies.

Do you know how your clients expectations and appetites are changing? What new working practices and new efficiencies are your clients demanding?

Do you use checklists in your law practice?

Over on LinkedIn, in the Legal Project Management group, Patrick DiDomenico has asked whether checklists are used in litigation matters and if so, what checklist applications are used.

The following is an excerpt of my comment to the post.

I too have read the Checklist Manifesto and am a believer in the power of checklists. I also utilize checklists in all areas of my law practice (including litigation).

I have found this practice very useful in driving efficiency between my paralegal and me and in creating a knowledge-management system. For example, I routinely set up legal entities and by using a checklist that has been refined over the last two years she is able to complete most of the work at a fraction of the cost with tremendous efficiency and quality. This has allowed me to spend less time on the matter thereby driving down the cost to the client (assuming the client is paying on the hourly rate) or increase revenue on fixed fee matters.

As for litigation, I can't think of a better system for managing the matter than using checklists. I utilize BasecampHQ which allows me to set up a simple LPM template which includes milestones and their corresponding tasks expressed as checklists. I am then able to assign various tasks on the checklists to members of the litigation team. What I love most about BasecampHQ is that it is so simple to use.

Additionally, because so many companies already use BasecampHQ, my clients are usually very familiar with the software. Unlike a paper checklist tucked away in the file, BasecampHQ allows me to have immediate access to all of my cases and the tasks that need to be completed through the dashboard no matter where I am in the world (and the same is true for my clients). The client's ability to see the checklist also helps solve the communication problem so many lawyers find themselves in since clients can see who is doing what, when they have done it, what needs to be done, and when it needs to be done by.

What are your thoughts? Do you use checklists and if so, how do you use them in your law practice?

Friday Favorites (January 13, 2012)

Friday Favorites is a list of the top 7 articles I read or wrote this week about law, technology, marketing, entrepreneurship, or social media.

1. Six Steps to Getting Started With a Paperless Office. (Small Firm Innovation). 
2. What is Rarely About Workers. It's About Customers, Clients, Buyers, Patients, Consumers. (What About Paris?).
3. 10 Ways to Minimize Risk When Running a Law Firm Webinar. (Jeff Krause's Practice Management Blog).
4. Electronic Confidential Information: It's Indestructible. (The Contracts Guy).
5. Six Family Limited Partnership Developments in 2011. (Forbes).
6. Another Reason Partners Should Learn About Legal Project Management. (Legal Marketing Blog).
7. What is Legal Project Management and Why Should I Implement it in My Practice? (Texas Law Blog).

* John Wallbillich over at WiredGC has 6 great posts on the State of Legal 2012 worth of 6 of the 7 spots this week. All six posts are must reads.

What is Legal Project Management and Why Should I Implement it in my Practice?

Last week we posited that legal project management (“LPM”) is not just for large law firms, Fortune 500 companies, or managing complex eDiscovery. This week, we look more closely at what LPM actually is and answer the question many solo and small firm lawyers are asking: why should I implement LPM in my practice?

LPM is first and foremost about efficiency. The increased unpredictability of legal costs is one of the biggest concerns for chief legal officers as-well-as small business owners. Inefficiency is one reason legal costs are unpredictable.

LPM requires that you break each legal matter into its main events (“milestones”), outline the “tasks” that must be performed in order to accomplish each milestone, assign people to perform each task with a corresponding deadline, monitor the progress of the individual tasks and milestones, assign budgets to the individual tasks or milestones, and monitor actual costs in relation to the budget. In other words, LPM drives efficiency. 

The LPM process establishes accountability and promotes transparency between lawyer and client. LPM properly aligns the interests of lawyer and client in the delivery of legal services and dramatically improves communication and the management of expectations. A law firm that is more efficient through proper planning, execution, monitoring, and communicating is far more valuable to a client than a law firm that is not. These are just a few of the reasons why you should implement LPM in your practice.

Next week we take a look at the heart of LPM - the work breakdown structure (“WBS”). Until then, do you think the increased pressure to use alternative fee agreements (“AFAs”) and therefore the need for lawyers to be more efficient will push more lawyers to adopt LPM?

Legal Project Management is Not Just for BigLaw, BigCo, or Complex eDiscovery

I was reminded recently about the perception in the small firm and solo legal community that legal project management (“LPM”) is only for large law firms and Fortune 500 companies that are managing complex eDiscovery.

Whether we admit it or not, all lawyers are project managers. Every litigation matter and every transactional matter is a project that can be broken down into milestones and each milestone can be broken down into tasks and assigned to members of the team. LPM is utilized to define what needs to be done, by whom, by when, and at what cost.

The next three posts will introduce you to LPM, provide examples of how you can implement LPM in your practice, and introduce you to simple technology that will help you implement LPM in your practice.

What do you think about LPM? What questions do you have about LPM?