How can I effectively break into the niche market of Legal Project Management, considering my background in Project Management and degree in Law and International Relations?
Are there any tips on how to break into this industry? Are there any professionals in Legal Project Management in this community? Is it worth it to do the LPM courses found online? Anything would be very helpful and appreciated, thank you! Saving Changes...
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Tiago, if you have a degree in Law and background in Project Management then you are already there. What are you looking to break into further than that? Isn't Law + Project Management = Legal Project Management :-) Saving Changes...
Rami Kaibni what I’ve learned during this period of career transition is that having degrees do not necessarily mean you are ready for the job market. So my intention with my post was to find out if there is any upskilling, networking or Internship/mentorship that I can do to help with getting a foot in the door.
Another observation is that in this developing industry, unfortunately, the ‘who you know’ concept is still very predominant, specifically in the Legal Project Management side. Perhaps someone already on the inside would have an opinion about that and an advice on how to go around it.
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Tiago, check with your local PMI chapter. Most chapters have free mentorship programs. As for the who you know factor, this is the case with any industrym not only the legal one. Saving Changes...
Can you identify what types of projects in the legal domain you'd want to manage as the law firms I've consulted with would tend to mostly use PMs for their internal technology projects and (for the much bigger firms) their facilities projects?
For the former, you might consider joining ILTA as it has a reasonable sized PM community which would help from a networking perspective. Shadowing existing PMs on a common type of legal technology project such as modifying or replacing a document or case management system might be a good way to gain valuable knowledge.
Some law firms that have adapted and adhered to LPM, mostly large ones, have PMs to manage their case laws as clients are starting to demand more personalised and efficient processes. The industry is changing, clients are starting to be more involved in knowing where and how they are spending their money. Value for money is becoming the main focus, and that is where LPMs come in.
Thank you for the tip on ILTA, I'll check it out.
Tiago
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1 reply by Kiron Bondale
Jan 27, 2024 9:48 AM
Kiron Bondale
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In that case, if the focus is on managing matters as projects, then it really comes down to getting your foot in the door. With your existing legal knowledge, other than looking at shadowing opportunities or heavily networking within a local legal association or perhaps through your local PMI chapter, I can't think of other options.
Some law firms that have adapted and adhered to LPM, mostly large ones, have PMs to manage their case laws as clients are starting to demand more personalised and efficient processes. The industry is changing, clients are starting to be more involved in knowing where and how they are spending their money. Value for money is becoming the main focus, and that is where LPMs come in.
Thank you for the tip on ILTA, I'll check it out.
Tiago
In that case, if the focus is on managing matters as projects, then it really comes down to getting your foot in the door. With your existing legal knowledge, other than looking at shadowing opportunities or heavily networking within a local legal association or perhaps through your local PMI chapter, I can't think of other options.
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