ATLANTA, March 7, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Taking a page from the corporate playbook, in-house lawyers at an upcoming luncheon roundtable will examine how to adapt project management techniques for use in the legal department, with the goal of managing litigation, transactions and outside counsel for maximum efficiency, transparency and value.
GC South magazine will host the event, titled "Managing Outside Counsel: Using Legal Project Management to Increase Efficiency and Control Costs" on Wednesday, April 12 at 11:30 a.m. at Maggiano's in Buckhead. Atlanta-based law firm Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP, is the exclusive law firm sponsor.
The roundtable will provide guidance on the use of legal project management. General counsels of some of the nation's largest companies will discuss the challenges they face in managing outside counsel. Panelists will also discuss the application of project management in performing legal services and the benefits of increased transparency and efficiency in the relationships with outside legal counsel.
"Project management is a widely-accepted business practice in many fields, with one notable exception -- the law," says Grant Collingsworth, a Partner with Morris, Manning & Martin, and leader of the firm's project management initiative. "Corporate general counsels are under pressure to operate an efficient business unit, but they rarely have the information or means necessary to control the activities and costs of outside legal counsel before it is too late. Legal project management can provide a systematic method of overseeing legal projects and enhancing the ability to predict and control project scope, timing and costs."
Roundtable discussion topics will include:
-- Project management fundamentals
-- Practical applications to legal matters
-- Feasibility, benefits and obstacles to legal project management
-- Potential uses in litigation, mergers and acquisitions, financing
and other complex deals and transactions
-- A patent-pending legal project management system now in
development
"Project management is widely used in service industries because it improves efficiency and communication and reduces the likelihood of surprises," said John Yates, who chairs Morris, Manning & Martin's Technology Group. "This roundtable will provide general counsel with an understanding of the elements of legal project management and the benefits of its use in managing major legal projects."
GC South, which is distributed to 7,000 in-house attorneys in 11 Southeastern states, hosts bi-monthly roundtables on a variety of business and legal topics affecting company lawyers. An edited transcript of the "Managing Outside Counsel: Using Legal Project Management to Increase Efficiency and Control Costs" roundtable discussion will be published in the June 2006 issue of GC South. GC South is part of the ALM family of publications, which also includes American Lawyer magazine and the National Law Journal.
There is no cost to attend the roundtable, but attorneys interested in attending must pre-register. For more information or to reserve a seat, call Amy Spearman with GC South at (404) 419-2822.
Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP, (www.mmmlaw.com) enjoys national prominence for its corporate finance, securities, litigation, technology, telecommunications, insurance, healthcare, environmental and real estate practices. The firm has offices in Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, and Princeton.