Making your Legal Practice More Efficient in 2021: Outsourcing, legal subscriptions, modern project management, and the Agile Methodology

Norman Clark, Principal | Walker Clark LLC

Norman Clark is one of the founders of Walker Clark LLC. His consulting practice specializes in issues of international business and legal practice strategy, mergers, risk management, internal productivity, partnership governance and compensation, and lawyer performance and profitability. He is also one of the world’s leading authorities on business and marketing strategy for law firms in emerging markets, working with progressive law firms in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, central and eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.

Norm’s 48-year career in the legal profession includes experience as a trial lawyer, trial judge, law professor, and manager of legal services on a global scale, including the management of an 800-lawyer legal services organization in 50 locations on three continents. He was a pioneer in the application of quality management concepts and methods to the practice of law and was one of the first legal managers to exploit the potential of information technology to bring about breakthrough improvements in the delivery of legal services worldwide. He has been a full-time consultant to the legal services industry since 1996.

Norm Clark speaks, writes, and publishes widely on a variety of timely issues and is a sought-after speaker for major conferences of professional associations and organizational retreats. His recent publications include Good Governance in Law Firms: A Strategic Approach to Executive Decision Making and Management Structures (Globe Law and Business, 2014), which he edited and for which he authored several chapters, as well as chapters in recently published books on law firm business development and partner compensation. He also co-authored, along with his Walker Clark colleague, Lisa Walker Johnson, Sustainable Profitability in a Disrupted Legal Market (Globe Law and Business, 2019) and was one of the contributing authors to, and editor of, Outsourcing of Core Legal Functions: How to Capitalise on Opportunities for Law Firms (Globe Law and Business Ltd, 2020).

Fernando Moreno, Principal | Walker Clark LLC

Fernando Moreno is a principal of Walker Clark, with more than 20 years experience in management and marketing consultancy for professional services firms.

Fernando’s practice concentrates on strategic planning, the development and implementation of marketing plans, feasibility studies for new products and ventures, law firm valuations, law firm profitability and general management coaching. He also has rare expertise advising senior executives of privately held multinational companies and their in-house counsel on the management of corporate legal functions. By profession an economist, Fernando’s background also includes 20 years in senior positions of marketing, operations, and business development in multinational corporations, working with operations in the Americas, Asia, and Australia. As a result, he has extensive experience in the planning, execution, and coordination of mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and multi-country rollouts of new businesses, products, and services.

Fernando Moreno is one of the authors of Outsourcing of Core Legal Functions: How to Capitalise on Opportunities for Law Firms (Globe Law and Business Ltd, 2020).

Dan Lear, Head of Partnerships and Marketing | Gravity Legal

Dan Lear is a lawyer and legal technology industry innovator. Previously he worked as a technology attorney and led industry relations for Avvo, one of the top legal technology success stories. Dan’s been mentioned, featured, or published widely in the legal industry press and spoken to legal and non-legal audiences in several settings including at SXSW Interactive, Ignite Seattle, Georgetown University, Stanford University, ReInvent Law, and the National Conference of Bar Presidents. Dan is currently leading marketing and partnerships for the legal-specific payments and money management platform, Gravity Legal.

Sarah McCormick

Sarah McCormick is currently transitioning into the role of Manager of Client Value Initiatives at Honigman in Detroit, Michigan. Prior to joining Honigman, Sarah worked as Legal Project Manager at Thompson Hine. She graduated from Michigan State University College of Law. Sarah is involved in the Legal Value Network’s webinar committee and has served on numerous American Bar Association committees related to innovation in the legal field.

John E. Grant | Agile Attorney Consulting

John E. Grant is an Agile coach and strategic consultant to law firms and legal teams. He is legal innovator who spent nearly a decade in the software industry before becoming a lawyer, practicing in-house and for an intellectual property boutique. He advises his clients on operational efficiency, product and pricing strategy, organizational design, and legal project management. He works with small and mid-sized law firms as a fractional COO, an executive coach, and a facilitator for team meetings and retreats.

John is a fellow with the International Institute of Legal Project Management, co-chaired the Oregon State Bar’s Futures Task Force, sits on the Bar’s Board of Governors, and is board president of the legal non-profit The Commons Law Center. He has been honored as a FastCase 50 legal innovator and an ABA Web100 awardee, and he received the Oregon Bar’s Award of Appreciation. You can learn more about his work at AgileAttorney.com.

Session I – Outsourcing professional functions: Improving profitability while maintaining high standards of quality | 12:00pm – 1:00pm
1. Presentations | 12:00pm – 12:40pm

a. The business case for outsourcing

i. Lower costs + higher productivity = better sustainable profitability
ii. Better quality

b. How to pick the best functions for outsourcing

i. High-cost functions
ii. High-risk functions

2. Commentary and discussion about how to select outside service providers | 12:40pm – 12:50pm
3. Closing comments by Norman Clark and Fernando Moreno | 12:50pm – 1:00pm

a. What to expect from outside service providers
b. The future of outsourcing in the practice of law

Break | 1:00pm – 1:10pm

Session II – Legal subscription billing models: The evolution of subscription offerings, the ethics, tools, and resources available | 1:10pm – 2:10pm
1. What are subscription legal services? | 1:10pm – 1:30pm
2. Why should you consider subscription legal services? | 1:30pm – 1:40pm
3. What are the ethics of subscription legal services? | 1:40pm – 1:50pm
4. How do you build a subscription legal services offering? | 1:50pm – 2:00pm
5. Tools to build a subscription legal services offering | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

Break | 2:10pm – 2:20pm

Session III – Efficient legal project management: Scaling, buy-in, and tools and templates | 2:20pm – 3:20pm
1. Introduction to Speaker | 2:20pm – 2:30pm
2. Discussion regarding LPM and the evolution of LPM across the last decade | 2:30pm – 2:50pm

a. Explanation on new tools, techniques and processes used to implement LPM into legal organizations that were not used previously with an emphasis on tools that are on the horizon

3. Discussion on scaling LPM for any organization and key tips to gaining buy-in | 2:50pm – 3:00pm
4. Review of actionable tools, templates, and how to continue (or start) the implementation of LPM within legal organizations | 3:00pm – 3:10pm
5. Q&A | 3:10pm – 3:20pm

Break | 3:20pm – 3:30pm

Session IV – A new way to manage your law firm utilizing the Agile Methodology: Continues collaboration, planning, executing and evaluating | 3:30pm – 4:30pm
1. An overview of Agile philosophies and methods | 3:30pm – 3:40pm
2. Benefits reported by Agile organizations | 3:40pm – 3:50pm
3. Drafting considerations for Agile contracts | 3:50pm – 4:00pm
4. Tips for incorporating Agile into your law practice | 4:00pm – 4:20pm
5. Q&A | 4:20pm – 4:30pm