The rising popularity of alternative fee arrangements has placed a new importance on the timely provision of legal advice. According to Baker & McKenzie Australia managing partner Chris Freeland, project management skills are increasingly important for lawyers looking to advance their careers. Recently firms surveyed by ALB unanimously reported that project management skills are key to a lawyer’s career progression and listed project management as one of the main performance issues identified in the industry.

 “Project management is a skill which is increasingly in demand,” Freeland told ALB. “If you’re in a transactional practice, I think it’s part of being what a great lawyer is about.  You need to be an expert in the law, but you also need to provide great client service and part of great client service is the ability to manage expectations and timelines and all of that is part of project management – so absolutely it’s important.”

Freeland says that the best place to learn about project management is on the job: “We have some great partners who manage large scale projects and the best training I think you could get is to observe and work with them,” he said. “There are also courses on project management, but the best training is to observe those who do it well.”