Getting Ahead with Legal Project Manager Certification

What is a Legal Project Manager?

What is a legal project manager? Legal project managers leverage project management techniques to deliver better work to clients and more work for the law firm as a whole. A legal project manager isn’t really "managing" the lawyers at other firms (although that’s certainly a possibility too), but rather she is "managing" client expectations and firm profitability. She may work with the partner and the team to develop a budget and then track the legal project throughout the life of the matter to ensure that the team finishes above the budget. Budgeting and tracking time are, of course, part of any efficient business, but now that clients are more involved in budgeting and tracking, effective or ineffective legal project administrators have the opportunity to capitalize on the expectation that the team will stay within budget and be on time .
The skills that legal project managers employ are probably the same skills that attorneys process in spades: attention to detail, time tracking, budgeting, communicating with outsiders, delegating, working with finances and vendors, etc., but now these skills are being applied to other situations than litigation. Legal project managers work on matters that require a series of deliverables, just like litigation does. There are still motions, but these motions are now written contracts or contracts for merger agreements, IP rights, etc. Instead of working on the litigation phase, they’re working on the deal phase. Instead of managing motions, they’re managing contracts. Instead of managing an opposing counsel, they’re managing an entire board of directors. But the skills needed are the same: you need to be able to negotiate, you need to be able to track, you need to pay attention to details, and you need to be able to communicate clearly, etc.

Need for Certification in Legal Project Management

Hitting the target is nice, but hitting the bulls-eye is an accomplishment. No matter how competent you are, you will have more impact by having an independent third party validate your capabilities. That’s why we wear diplomas on the wall, put letters after our names, and include certifications on our resumes.
Certification for Legal Project Managers
For legal project managers, certification provides a big advantage. While there are many improvement options on the menu at most law firms (Six Sigma, Lean Management, Process Mapping, etc.) organizations recognize the Legal Project Manager (LPM) certification as targeted on the practice of law to meet the needs of both clients and lawyers. The LPM certification also fills a void created by the absence of a license. While lawyers are generally required to be licensed through state or provincial authorities, project managers have no such requirement. Further, the requirements of the LPM certification are generally independent of any formal education in project management.
Certification as Product Differentiator
For the PM certification to have value, it must be treated as more difficult and therefore more valuable than holding a driver’s license. We all know people who have driver’s licenses who shouldn’t be behind the wheel. But the process assures that, for most people, the license is earned by passively meeting minimum standards. The price of admission is a few bits of personal identification and the ability to read and fill in a short form. While necessary, this is not sufficient to earn a legal project manager certification. Applicants are vetted to assure that they have met specific knowledge and experience requirements. This is becoming routine in many professions, but certification programs can have different levels of rigor. To assure a uniform standard, the LPM certification program uses an independent, recognized standards-setting organization and a rigorous certification test.
LPM Certification Delivers Results
Just as project managers are expected to create value, professionals earn the LPM certification because it is a big productivity differentiator. While there are many ways to shortcut the standard driver’s license process, having an LPM certification signals to clients and colleagues a level of proficiency commensurate with working with others with the same certification. And like a license to drive a taxi, multiple certifications can increase the value even further. So while a certification doesn’t make someone a better project manager, it at least increases the probability that they are sufficiently qualified that you’ll get your money’s worth if you hire them.

Leading Certifications for Legal Project Managers

An increased number of programs offer certification specifically for Legal Project Managers or those seeking to expand their project management skills. Here are a few of the most respected certifications available to Law LPMs and LPM-Future Leaders:
Legal Project Management (Georgetown University)
Georgetown University offers an LPM course for legal project managers that includes instructions on five different levels, with advance instruction and specializations available. Founded in 1821 Georgetown has a well-respected reputation in various academic disciplines including its online classes, which have won many awards.
Project Management Professional (PMI)
PMI offers a wide range of certifications for various career fields, including project management, with active chapters around the world. PMI’s Project Management Professional Certification (PMP) was founded 30 years ago and is the most respected project management certification in the world.
Project Management Certificate (Cornell University)
Cornell University’s online Project Management Certificate program is offered year-round, and available to anyone with a high school education. The program is both convenient and affordable, priced at $5,680.
Professional in Project Management (American Academy of Project Management)
The American Academy of Project Management is an international organization that issues certifications in project management fields and related specializations. It is registered by the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) Provider of Continuing Education.

How to Decide on the Right Certification Program

There are several personal considerations to take into account when selecting an appropriate legal project manager certification program. First and foremost, a great deal depends on one’s career goals. The person who sees themself as a generalist may prefer a program that emphasizes the core skills of organizing work and setting up project controls. The person who considers themself a specialist in one aspect of large scale litigation, maybe in technology management, may derive more value from a program with an advanced track of more specialized content, or one that digs more deeply into a single topic or a smaller range of topics, than into a number of other areas.
Cost is always a consideration, and may drive choices somewhat more strongly for the independent consultant than for the career litigater-management in Sophisticated Litigation such as class actions and mass torts, who may be able to have the cost of the training funded by the employer. In some cases, it may be possible to get training funded, but what is offset at school is often paid for out of pocket by independent legal professionals, heavy use of Lean Six Sigma and other newer methodologies by these professionals notwithstanding. Although several older certifications require an application fee in addition to exam fees, they are generally pretty minimal- usually on the order of $300. Costs for Lean Six Sigma and PMI certifications are generally much higher, on the order of $2000 for each exam. In terms of educational investment, though, they don’t compare with the investment required by many law schools, so if it is truly returning significant value, it is a much smaller strategic expenditure.
For content to be delivered face to face, the instructor must be willing and able to travel. Many of our proposal deadlines are on Fridays or Mondays. That makes a class scheduled on a Wednesday-there is a full work week lost at the least. Young parents with small children are often reluctant to travel or be in class on Fridays and Mondays for similar reasons. They may also be reluctant to travel while homesick or miss a weekend with children, or to leave a sick child in the care of a relative for a week. People who have moved away from their home areas for a new job that requires them to provide ongoing care for family members may have similar concerns.
In terms of learning style, the availability of a program in terms of time and format may be restricted by learning style. For people who like to learn in great depth and also must travel for their work, taking an online program that consists primarily of interviews of experts presented in a series of lectures might be a good choice. For someone who has the opposite problem-someone who has trouble following through on lectures, or can’t focus adequately enough on a lecture to absorb and digest "critical thinking" items which come up on the fly, but has to be in a structured program for any extended period of time due to issues of self discipline and pacing such as an ADD issue-much less work applicable time is lost. They can speed up an audio file, but they can’t speed up a face to face program, since they can’t control the pace of a slide show that goes as fast as the instructor talks. For people like this, an audios or a site that presents materials in print format in free space rather than scrolling along in a separate window offers a better experience. What they have to lose is an additional hour or two of application time in addition to the hours spent in training as they process information and apply a short article or two that is relevant to their work before proceeding on to the next unit.

Steps to Get Certified in Legal Project Management

The legal project manager certification process varies depending on the chosen certifying body, but there are some general steps that are frequently common. The prerequisites and process do vary by organization, as do the number of options along the journey. Often there are several exams to pass, such as: And you may have to take them in a particular order. Some certifications accept an extensive range of experience, allowing candidates to pay for an assessment of their suitability for the course, rather than require formal training . Others specify multiple learning options including classroom learning, independent study and e-learning. Find the certification process that is right for you and your current level of experience. There are many resources available to equip you for the rigors of the examination process. These include comprehensive training sessions, pre-study materials, mock exams and a range of self-study materials available via each website. To get a feel for the style of questions you would be expected to answer, read any revision notes you can find on the websites listed above and try answering a few of the example questions.

Career Opportunities Post Certification

Earning certification as a legal project manager opens the door to many diverse career paths. Many certified legal project managers go on to take larger career roles within their respective firms, often with enhanced billing authority based on their use of legal project management to benefit clients. Such positions may include legal project manager for a practice group within the firm, senior-level project manager, director of project management, alternative legal services project manager, director of innovation, or director of practice excellence.
A certified legal project manager may also expand career prospects beyond any one individual firm. With this combination of legal know-how and project management skills, a certified legal project manager may be employed by any legal service provider or alternative legal services provider, working as an in-house PM or selling project management services on an hourly or project/retainer basis.
Many certified legal project managers go into project management or consulting roles with law technology companies. Depending on the company, a legal project manager may conduct demos of new technology, lead program implementation, provide onboarding training, offer ongoing training and support, and sell the technology to other firms.
Once certified, a legal project manager can take advantage of increased visibility in the marketplace as an employee or contractor for any legal team, sold as a service, or as an individual specialist consultant. Ever more legal departments are using this role to augment their undocumented processes and overcome the common law practice fear of change.

Challenges in Legal Project Management

One of the most common challenges legal project managers face is the expectation that they are an administrative resource and not a problem solver. This is often perceived, by those people who have given them that title, as someone who simply handles a given project or task. A project manager, does manage the project steering the team towards an outcome, but s/he should also be part of the client and/or legal engineering team. The legal project manager is trained to review a problem with a filter that will identify issues, options and solutions. This enables them to move quickly up the value chain, and provide actionable advice.
The most common challenges managers face include:
Managing across the matrix
Managing across a matrix can be quite tricky. A typical structure includes a matrixed organization involving multiple teams from different offices, departments, and firms. Each team member may feel they report to a different person. The lines of communication are blurred as it becomes difficult to understand who manages what.
A Legal Project Manager can reduce the ambiguity and break down any barriers by holding regular meetings with the team. This forum helps attendees drill down into complex matters, ask and answer questions, and create action plans.
Organizing and consolidating information
Clients demand changes to be made quickly, and require detailed, reliable and timely information. They will be unhappy if you send them incorrect information, even if you have completed the work according to the instructions you received.
A Legal Project Manager is educated to understand and appreciate the impact of scope creep on budgets and timelines. They will ensure scope creep is mitigated in an unambiguous manner with the client . They will also be able to accurately confirm any work that is completed for the client on time and on budget.
Coordinating with external agencies
When you are dealing with another firm of lawyers or other counsel, those external lawyers will probably be accustomed to working in a much more informal way. They will have no knowledge of your own organization and your ways of working. They might also find it difficult to deal with anyone who is not from a law firm.
A Legal Project Manager is someone that a client’s external lawyers will happily work with. They will not see the manager’s role as unnecessary, and will appreciate their professionalism. Legal Project Managers are equipped with a solid understanding of legal process and how it works. They are not intimidated by lawyers and know how best to deal with them. This allows them to remain confident and be able to deal assertively with complex matters.
Overcoming culture shock
When different organizations or teams come together to deliver on a legal matter, there are going to be many differences of opinion in how the matter should be handled. This is complicated by the fact that everyone involved might have a slightly different focus – for instance, business-focused is different to a law focused point of view. If there are cultural differences within the teams, or it’s an international project, there will be further discrepancies in how the team members want to work.
A Legal Project Manager has been educated to recognize these differences and find ways to manage them. They will be very adaptable and flexible to the needs of the team members. This means all the culture shocks can be overcome swiftly and safely.