4 Steps to Advanced Matter Management
You’re at a cocktail party and the person next to you inevitably asks “so, what do you do?” You respond that you’re a lawyer and the person nods in understanding. But you know that they’re likely picturing is a dramatic courtroom scene from their favorite legal drama – not what it is like to actually practice law. As attorneys, we know that the majority of our work happens outside the courthouse. Effectively managing that work is one key to a successful outcome. This post walks you through the four steps of Advanced Matter Management™ so your matters can practically manage themselves.
Step One: Choosing What to Manage
You can manage an entire matter, one or more parts of a matter, or a group of similar matters, and anything in between. Some criteria to consider:
- Size and scope
- Well-defined steps or stages
- Clear deadlines
Size and Scope: We need to understand exactly what it is we are trying to do and whether it makes sense to manage it based on the relative importance or size of the work. For example, we may want to manage some correspondence with opposing counsel (such as meet and confer letters) but it simply isn’t time-efficient to monitor and track every email.
Well-Defined Steps or Stages: Not every part of a matter goes through a series of identifiable steps. If you can’t fill in the blanks of “first we do _________,” “then we _________,” “and after that we do _____,” “and finally we_______,” then we need to reconsider what it is that we really want to manage.
Clear Deadlines: This one is self-explanatory but I’ll just note that it includes more than the final deadline. Can we match each of the steps and stages to a deadline – even if it’s only an internal one?
Step 2: Map the Workflow
A workflow is a visual representation of what needs to happen, who needs to do it, and the order it follows. We already know there are steps, so now we need to identify what they are. We also need to account for decision points where the next step depends on a yes/no question, such as “is it complete?” It’s also important to clearly identify who is responsible for completing the step.
Step 3: Implement
Now that we know what the steps are and who is involved with each, we need to communicate that plan to the people involved. It’s often helpful to have a team meeting to introduce the workflow so people can see their roles and responsibilities. We then need to communicate among the team as the project moves through the different steps. The key is to have a way for everyone to see where things are in real time. I do this using ClickUp, (affiliate link) but you can use Google Docs, Google Sheets or any other tool that allows access to everyone in real time.
Step 4: Monitor and Track
This is where we make sure our workflows work. Matter management isn’t “set it and forget it.” Goals and priorities change and we need our workflows to reflect that. We also need to be on the lookout for bottlenecks and anticipate risks so that we can mitigate these issues. Having the right tools in place makes it easy and quick for your matter manager to spot these issues and address them quickly so your matter stays on track.
These four steps are the core framework of Advanced Matter Management.™ You can adapt this framework to meet the needs of your law firm whether you handle cases with hundreds of parties or only a handful.
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