On the shores of legal management the latest wave of enthusiasm has many project management surfers. The skills required to estimate time to complete tasks, the best order of those tasks, the right people and tools in the right spots, all these are aspects of project management as I understand it. Books are appearing everywhere as well as courses and articles pitched at lawyers. Perhaps that cluster of tools and approaches is the Next Big Thing.
Meanwhile, despite my misgivings when law departments load RFPs with questions that end up making no difference, it seems useful to ask law firms about their investment in project management. More, ask them to give a real example from the past six months. If those responses help choose the better firm, logic suggests that in-house counsel also should learn more about the discipline.