The Lawyer as Project Manager

Mindset, skills and tools to get projects done

Why It Matters

Beyond their traditional legal work, in-house lawyers are increasingly expected to lead or participate in complex projects: designing and rolling out a compliance awareness & training campaign, selecting and deploying a new AI tool, shaping a new corporate governance system, harmonising corporate policies after a merger, redesigning operating procedures for the legal department, etc. Such projects may even be among the most exciting parts of their work and a key step in their professional evolution.

Project management is not, in itself, a complicated discipline. But leading a complex project to completion may be challenging for in-house lawyers for several reasons. First, managing a project requires different skills than the analytical and drafting skills lawyers have been trained in. Second, the project often comes on top of an already full legal workload. And third, it often involves colleagues from other departments who don't report to the lawyer and have no obligation to prioritise the project.

This course aims to equip lawyers interested or involved in managing projects with the mindset and the practical tools to lead their projects successfully despite these hurdles.

Content

Or it can be built around a real project participants are currently running or about to run, in which case we focus specifically on helping the project team move it forward, concretely and tangibly.

The standard approach goes through the following points:

• Project management and lawyers. What actually qualifies as a project as opposed to a simple task or a recurring process, and why getting this definition right largely determines the project’s ultimate success.

• Why you need a hybrid methodology. Most lawyers may be familiar with a traditional, linear, four-step approach to project management. In practice, however, projects run by lawyers are often less predictable and more chaotic: Unexpected delays, uncooperative project team members, sudden priorities distracting you from the project… The traditional project management method must therefore be complemented by “agile” project management, a far more flexible and adaptable approach.

• The toolkit. Concrete, lightweight tools for each step: defining the outcome and securing a sponsor, breaking a complex objective down into manageable tasks, planning and budgeting, anticipating risks, tracking progress visually. Enough structure to stay in control, enough flexibility to remain responsive.

• The interpersonal dimension. The hardest part, and where the training spends most of its time: getting commitment from people who don't report to you, adapting to different personalities, and balancing the responsibility you take on with the authority you have.

• Projects and the day job. How to keep a project moving in a professional life made of interruptions, and how to arbitrate between the several projects you are carrying at the same time.

Who Should Attend

All lawyers interested or involved in managing projects.

Format and Options

The course can be a general introduction to the subject, based on examples from in-house legal practice and exercises. Or it can be based on a real project which participants are currently running or about to run, in which case we will focus specifically on that projet.

Available in English, French, and Dutch.

Fees are quoted individually following a conversation with Antoine.

Antoine Henry de Frahan

The course is delivered by Antoine or trainers he has personally trained in his methodology.

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