Please click here to purchase this book. Available in English only.

ISBN: 978-1-907787-61-4

Format: Soft Cover

Pages: 115

Price: £295

Toronto, July 18, 2011 — McCarthy Tétrault is pleased to announce the launch of Canada’s first book about legal project management and the first such book to be written from inside a law firm, Project Management for Lawyers. Published by Ark Group and co-authored by Barbara Boake, a partner in McCarthy Tétrault’s Bankruptcy & Restructuring Practice, and Rick Kathuria, the firm’s director of IT development and a Project Management Professional (PMP), the book is a comprehensive guide to delivering superior value to clients through effective planning, pricing and management of legal services.

"Clients need excellent legal advice, but they also need predictability and control of costs," says Ms. Boake. "They don’t want to be surprised when they see their bill. At McCarthy Tétrault, we have seen how better processes, technology and infrastructure can deliver these results. Effective project management enables us to identify efficiencies, provide more predictability and ultimately deliver greater value to our clients. It also allows us to match our management of projects to the evolving needs of our clients."

While Project Management for Lawyers focuses on the increasing requirement for firms to provide more effective communication and management of matters and resources, it also provides guidance to clients on what to expect when working with external counsel who are using legal project management, and on how to implement useful legal project management principles in-house. To offer the client's perspective, the book includes a case study from the Royal Bank of Canada, as well as case studies of successful law firm project management programs, including McCarthy Tétrault’s Dialogue Project Management^® system.

McCarthy Tétrault is the first law firm in Canada to offer a systemized approach to project management as a fully integrated business practice. Dialogue Project Management^® allows the firm to deliver its customary high-quality performance on legal mandates, while identifying and planning for the competing constraints of cost, time and scope.

Dialogue Project Management^® is supported by proprietary tools and techniques, including customized templates for the development of detailed work plans; a firm-wide database of professionals to ensure that the best resources are assigned to each matter; estimating tools and best practices for the development of realistic budgets; and techniques and processes for the assessment of project risks. McCarthy Tétrault uses Dialogue Project Management^® to create work plans for many of its clients across Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, and as an industry leader in the area, the firm has offered firm-developed (and where applicable, CPD-approved) project management training to more than 150 clients in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver. In addition, members of the firm are frequently asked to share their insights and findings at legal conferences and with the media.

Project Management for Lawyers was recently reviewed at www.jimhassett.com and can be purchased for £295 at Managing Partner magazine’s website, at www.mpmagazine.com. The book comes with a complimentary CD-ROM with forms, templates, checklists and frameworks that can be used immediately to plan and execute a project management program.

About McCarthy Tétrault

McCarthy Tétrault provides a broad range of legal services, advising on large and complex assignments for Canadian and international interests. The firm has substantial presence in Canada’s major commercial centres and in London, UK.

Built on a unique model of collaboration, the firm brings its legal talent, industry knowledge and practice experience, wherever needed, to help clients achieve the results that are important to them.