Rising costs and pressures on business have led many companies to question whether they can afford to pursue expensive and risky litigation projects, with many companies feeling they would rather settle than engage in unpredictable and risky legal battles. In the UK and US, Legal Project Management has gained widespread use as a tool to allow clients considerable control and oversight over the course of a lawsuit, and now, Kochanski and Partners are introducing the concept to Poland.
Legal Project Management
LPM is the application of project management principles and techniques to enhance the delivery of legal services. It recognizes that legal matters, be they litigation, transactions, or regulatory compliance, can be complex and multifaceted, and just like any other project, require careful planning, execution, and monitoring to ensure success.
LPM: benefits for clients in their dispute resolution process
LPM emphasizes the importance of defining clear objectives, tasks, and timelines for legal matters. By breaking down complex legal work into manageable components, it helps clients take realistic decisions about whether to proceed with an action, and law firms and legal departments streamline their operations, resulting in a more efficient allocation of resources, saving time and money.
In times of crisis and spiralling inflation, LPM provides assurance and control over the cost of legal services.
Legal project managers combine their substantive knowledge and experience in particular areas of law with innovative project management techniques, using technological tools to improve efficiency at each stage of a project. The result is increased foresight over the progression of a complex case, via the monitoring of schedules, milestones and risks, creating real value for both clients and the firm.
The legal project manager: a great asset to clients and their cases
Legal project managers will take a highly proactive approach to a client’s case and needs, with the procedural objectives being agreed with the client and monitored in real time throughout the proceedings. Legal project managers will not be primarily occupied with the final outcome of a case, but rather will focus on the business rationale and importance of the case to the client, and as such, will ensure lines of communication are kept open and transparent as the case develops.
LPM places a strong emphasis on budgeting and cost control with continuous monitoring of expenses to ensure that the project stays within budget. Using LPM techniques, the scope of work and required budget can be more precisely defined, and subsequent processes planned to accommodate and adapt to these considerations in real time.
This is particularly important in adaptive disputes, such as international arbitration, where procedural flexibility is key as the will of parties often lead to changes from the original scope of work and in the key assumptions agreed with the client.
In addition, international project management techniques are often familiar to business, and as such work to promote trust and facilitate cooperation on all sides as for many clients, project work is an organisational standard.
All disputes, from the smallest cases up to international arbitration, can benefit from the full assessment of the expectations and objectives of parties and other stakeholders offered by legal project management, which can ensure that those objectives can be achieved most effectively.
LPM at Kochański & Partners
LPM offers any legal project a significant saving in time and cost to be made during proceedings (whether litigation or arbitration), and ensures that both the objectives of the proceedings and the expectations of the client are met.
Kochanski and Partners Dispute resolution practice, are among the first firms in Poland to offer this service, with a comprehensive management of pending litigation and arbitration proceedings from a project-based approach. The team includes Magdalena Papiernik-König, an advocate and certified Legal Project Practitioner, accredited by the International Institute of Legal Project Management.