Project Management for Lawyers

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This report report is a compilation of knowledge, best practices and lessons learned by two individuals with different but complementary backgrounds. Barbara Boake is a senior partner at McCarthy Tetrault LLP, practising in the areas of bankruptcy, insolvency and restructuring. With over 20 years of practice experience and having served on her firm's board of partners and its executive team, Barbara was named one of the 'Top 100 Most Powerful Women' in Canada by the Women's Executive Network. While a member of her firm's executive team she was responsible for leading the development and implementation of the firm's 'Dialogue Project ManagementA" programme. Barbara speaks regularly on all aspects of project management for the legal profession. Rick Kathuria is a professional engineer, certified management consultant and a certified project management professional with over 15 years of experience working on large international projects at top tier consulting firms, before starting his own consulting firm. His projects included managing multimillion dollar projects internationally, as well as the implementation of internal project management offices for several of his clients. He also serves in a leadership role in operating the Project Management Institute's 'Legal Project Management Community of Practice'. He has been working with McCarthy Tetrault LLP as head of its IT development group and director of its project management office, where he oversees major implementation projects. He has spent the last few years working with senior partners of the firm to develop project management training and he designed the tools that they are currently using. In this capacity, he was also responsible for delivering training to lawyers and providing ongoing coaching to help them effectively project manage their legal mandates. Both authors began with a blank slate and created a legal project management programme that is changing the way the firm's lawyers plan, price and deliver legal work. This report is a guide through this challenging, but very rewarding process.