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Why is Law Firm Project Management still so hard in 2023?

India Preston

India Preston

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In this article

    In today’s ultra-competitive market, law firms are in a constant battle to provide superior service while cutting costs and boosting profit. It’s no surprise that legal project management has grown in importance. 

    In an attempt to streamline and speed up processes, many law firms are looking to legal project managers to save the day. Organizations like the International Institute of Legal Project Management offer training courses designed to equip people in the application of legal project management principles. 

    But adding yet another person to the mix often has the opposite effect than intended, making project management processes even more complicated and bloated. You could say that too many cooks spoil the legal broth. What’s more, legal project managers often have little-to-no legal experience (crazy, eh?).

    So what’s the solution? Instead of parachuting more people in to manage projects, the answer lies elsewhere: legal technology. The right tech has the power to fundamentally change the way your team communicates, collaborates, and serves clients, by making your processes more streamlined and efficient.

    In this article, we’ll run down some of the challenges that come with legal project management — and how you can solve them using new, transformative legal technology.

    Disconnected communication and collaboration

    As a lawyer, what skill do you rely on most on any given day? Applying the theory you learnt at law school? Sure, it’s essential to know the letter of the law. But when it comes to law firm project management and know-how management, collaboration and communication are key. And at the moment, they’re disconnected.

    Despite what you were taught at law school, legal isn’t an individual sport. Legal matter management brings together multiple people both inside and outside your team, requiring you to: 

    • Assign tasks to colleagues within a matter checklist
    • Communicate with outside counsel
    • Answer questions and keep clients in the loop
    • Track task progress, request follow-ups, and tick off completed tasks.

    All of these things require effective communication and collaboration to run smoothly. But in a world where outdated, ill-fitting tech and unclear processes are still the norm, the life blood of law firm project management — effective communication and collaboration — can seem virtually impossible. 

    This damages legal teams’ ability to manage projects effectively, which in turn impacts the overall success of a law firm. One study, for example, found that organizations that promote and enable collaborative working are five times more likely to be high-performing than those that don’t.1

    Lawyers need to collaborate, but it’s not always clear who they’re supposed to talk to and how to get hold of them. Lawyers also need to share documents and information, but the tools they use make it needlessly cumbersome to do so. All of this wastes valuable time and resources. You get the picture. And if the tools used for collaboration aren’t up to scratch, this makes it harder still…

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    Legal technology and tools that lag behind

    Sure, a bad workman blames his tools. But on the flip side, bad tools make it hard — or even impossible — to be a good workman. In legal, bad tools are one of the main reasons why teams struggle to get on top of project management. The same goes for good tools that are disconnected. 

    A disunited tech stack

    Legal teams often use a huge number of tools to get their job done. According to a recent study, 45% of respondents stated that they used five to ten different technologies to support the legal process, while 30% claimed to use more than 10!2 

    Manually jumping between this many apps is time-consuming, mentally draining, and needlessly complicated. But more than that, it also represents a security risk. With multiple separate apps, people are moving documents and other sensitive information from one platform to another, increasing the risk of a law firm data breach. This also makes it more likely that documents get lost or misplaced, which further hampers collaboration.

    Often, these tools are essential to effective project planning and management — whether it’s communications tools like Slack or WhatsApp, document management tools, task management tools, or billing tools. The problem is that they’re scattered and separate from one another. 

    Substandard tools

    Sprawling tech stacks are problematic enough even when the tools themselves are good. But when legal teams rely heavily on substandard tools, project management becomes unnecessarily challenging. 

    Take email, for example. Email is how the majority lawyers still ask for status updates, how they check in with clients, collaborate with outside counsel, send sensitive documents, set people tasks… and so on. It’s used for pretty much everything. But it’s clunky, ineffective, and not always secure. 

    Despite these obvious drawbacks, email remains the go-to communication tool for many law firms, with lawyers spending on average 66% of their day working with emails.3 Crazier still, 53% of lawyers don’t use a dedicated collaboration tool at all.4 It’s no surprise law firm project management is still so hard when collaboration tools aren’t used by most lawyers.

    This is just another example of legal teams using tools that weren’t designed with legal work in mind. (Don’t get us started on Excel… ). While these aren’t bad tools themselves, they weren’t designed to solve the unique challenges that law teams face. 

    You can unite your tech stack and bring all those disparate tools together, but if they’re the wrong tools in the first place, you’ll struggle to work, communicate, and collaborate effectively. 

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    Bringing about a transformation in legal technology

    While the issues we’ve outlined so far in this article continue to hamstring the legal industry, things are changing. 

    A new breed of technology platforms is bringing legal into the 21st century, enabling legal teams to unite their tools in one central hub while enhancing communication and collaboration. The result is simplified and streamlined legal project management.

    Lupl, a legal project management tool designed by lawyers, for lawyers, is leading this revolution with a range of powerful features, including: 

    • Matter templates: Save time and reduce risk by accessing a growing range of ready-made matter templates, designed by our vibrant community of legal experts. Alternatively, you can submit a template idea to our community or build your own custom template.
    • Assign tasks and review dates: With outdated or ill-fitting tools, the process of assigning tasks, inputs, and approvals can be a nightmare. Lupl enables you to assign tasks within matters and offers automatic chasing capabilities, giving you full visibility of who’s doing what and when.
    • Lupl Pins: With our browser extension, you can quickly pin anything you’re researching to a matter in Lupl — so no more copy-pasting research into Word, Google docs, or email. You can then easily add descriptions and share information with team members.
    • Unite your tech stack: With integrations for Slack, WhatsApp, Asana, and many more, Lupl brings together your entire legal tech stack in one central place. And with open APIs, you can integrate Lupl with whatever tools you use. So no more jumping between multiple tools and platforms. This also reduces the risk of security breaches, creating a safer, easier environment for legal teams to operate. 

    Lupl is designed to transform the way legal professionals work — and by extension the delivery of legal services — regardless of their level of experience. If you’re a new lawyer with little project management experience, Lupl helps you get to grips with this side of the job.

    And if you’ve been project managing your entire career, Lupl makes it easier than ever to get stuff done. All of this leads to:

    • Increased efficiency and process improvement
    • Better communication and collaboration
    • Improved knowledge sharing and access to information
    • Enhanced project management and delivery, meaning quicker and better service for your clients.

    Making legal project management work

    If you’re wondering why law firm project management is still so hard in 2023, fear not — it doesn’t have to be. 

    With a legal project management tool like Lupl, you can bring together your legal tech stack in an intuitive, coherent way, enabling effective communication and collaboration both internally and externally. Like a great team, the platform becomes greater than the sum of its parts. 

    What’s more, Lupl is incredibly easy to set up. You’ll be up and running in under a minute (seriously!), so you can start managing legal projects more efficiently without delay. 

    If you’d like to see first-hand how Lupl could transform the way you manage legal projects, get in touch today and book a demo.

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    1  New Study Finds That Collaboration Drives Workplace Performance — Forbes. 

    2  Too Much Tech in Legal Operations? Not Exactly — The Wall Street Journal.

    3  Lawyers Live in Their Inboxes

    4  Too Much Tech in Legal Operations? Not Exactly – WSJ 

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      # Lupl Workstream Design Principles: A Practical Guide to Legal Project Management for Lawyers Legal project management works when your setup is simple, ownership is clear, and statuses are unambiguous. This guide shows how to turn existing processes and checklists into a lean, reliable Workstream. Lupl is the legal project management platform for law firms, making it easy and intuitive to apply these principles. It also supports moving your work from Excel, Word tables, or if you are transitioning from Microsoft Planner, Smartsheet, or Monday. You will learn what belongs in a Workstream, a Task, or a Step, and which columns to use. If you want practical project management for lawyers, start here. **Excerpt:** Legal project management works when ownership, dates, and statuses are clear. This guide shows lawyers how to turn checklists into Lupl Workstreams with the right columns, Tasks, and Steps. Use it to standardize project management for lawyers, reduce follow ups, and move matters to done. --- ## How to organize your work with Workstreams, Tasks, and Steps Workstreams, Tasks, and Steps are three different types of objects in Lupl. They form a simple hierarchy. Workstreams contain Tasks. Tasks may contain optional Steps. This hierarchy aligns with standard project management. In project management, you break work into projects, deliverables, and subtasks. Lupl adapts this for lawyers by using Workstreams, Tasks, and Steps. This makes it easier to map legal processes to a structure that teams can track and manage. * **Workstream.** Use when you have many similar or related items to track over time. Think of the Workstream as the table. * Examples: closing checklist, court deadlines, pretrial preparation, regulatory obligations, due diligence, local counsel management. * **Task.** A high level unit of legal work. A key deliverable with an owner and a due date. Tasks are the rows. * Examples: File motion. Prepare Shareholder Agreement. Submit Q3 report. * **Step.** An optional short checklist inside a single Task. Steps roll up to the parent Task. * Examples: Draft. QC. Partner review. E file. Serve. ### Quick test * If it can be overdue by itself, make it a Task. * If it only helps complete a Task, make it a Step. * If you need different columns or owners, create a separate Workstream. --- ## Do you need to track everything in Lupl Not every detail needs to be tracked in a project management system. The principle is to capture what drives accountability and progress. In Lupl, that means focusing on deliverables, not every micro action. * Use the level of detail you would bring to a weekly team meeting agenda. * Position Tasks as key deliverables. Treat Steps as optional micro tasks to show progress. * Example: You need client instructions. Do not add a Task for "Email client to request a call." Just make the call. If the client approves a key deliverable on the call, mark that item Approved in Lupl so the team has visibility. --- ## Start with the Core 5 columns Columns are the backbone of a Workstream. They define what information is tracked for each Task. In project management terms, these are your core metadata fields. They keep everyone aligned without overcomplicating the table. Keep the table narrow. You can add later. These five work across most legal project management use cases. 1. **Title.** Start with a verb. Example: File answer to complaint. 2. **Status.** Five to seven clear choices. Example: Not started, In progress, For review, For approval, Done. 3. **Assignee.** One named owner per row. If you add multiple assignees for collaboration, still name a primary owner. 4. **Due date.** One date per row. 5. **Type or Category.** Show different kinds of work in one table. Example: Filing, Discovery, Signature, Approval. **Priority.** Add only if you actively triage by priority each week. If added, keep it simple: High, Medium, Low. --- ## Add up to three Helper columns Lupl includes a set of pre made columns you can use out of the box. These allow you to customize Workstreams around different phases or stages of a matter. They also let you map how you already track transactional work, litigation, or other processes. Helper columns are optional fields that add context. In task management, these are similar to tags or attributes you use to sort and filter work. The key is to only add what you will update and use. Pick only what you will use. Stop when you reach three. * Party or Counterparty * Jurisdiction or Court * Phase * Approver * Approval, status or yes or no * Signature status * Risk, RAG * Amount or Number * External ID or Client ID * Document or Link * Docket number * Client entity **Guidance** * For Task Workstreams, prefer Approver, Approval, Risk. The rest are more common in Custom Workstreams. * Aim for eight columns or fewer in your main table. Put detail in the Task description, attachments, or Steps. --- ## Simple rules that keep your table clean Consistency is critical in project management. A cluttered or inconsistent table slows teams down. These rules ensure your Workstream remains usable and clear. * Only add a column people will update during the matter. If it never changes, set a default at the Workstream level or set a default value in the column. * Only add a column you will sort or filter on. If you will not use it to find or group work, leave it out. * If a value changes inside one Task, use Steps. Steps show progress without widening the table. * Keep columns short and structured. Use Description for brief context or instructions. Use Task comments for discussion and decisions. Link to work product in your DMS as the source of truth. * One accountable owner per Task and one due date. You can add collaborators, but always name a primary owner who moves the Task. If different people or dates apply to different parts, split into separate Tasks or capture the handoff as Steps. * Add automations after you lock the design. Finalize columns and status definitions first. Then add simple reminders and escalations that read those fields. --- ## Status hygiene that everyone understands Status is the single most important column in project management. It tells the team where the work stands. Too many options cause confusion. Too few cause misalignment. In Lupl, keep it simple and consistent. * Five to seven statuses are enough. * Use one review gate, For review or For approval. Use both only if your process needs two gates. * One terminal status, Done. This is the end state of the Task. Use Archived only if you report on it or need it for retention workflows. --- ## When to split into multiple Workstreams In project management, it is best practice to separate workstreams when workflows, owners, or audiences diverge. Lupl makes this easy by letting you create multiple Workstreams for one matter. Create a new Workstream if any of the following are true. * You need a different set of columns for a chunk of work. * Ownership or cadence is different, for example daily docketing vs monthly reporting. * The audience or confidentiality needs are different. **Signal** * If half your rows leave several columns blank, you are mixing processes. Split the table. --- ## Decision tree, three quick questions Use this quick framework to decide where an item belongs. This is the same principle used in task management software, adapted for legal workflows. 1. Is this a list of similar items over time, or a discrete phase of the matter * Yes. Create a Workstream. 2. Can it be overdue by itself, and does it need an owner * Yes. Create a Task. 3. Is it a step to finish a Task and not tracked on its own * Yes. Create a Step. --- ## Common mistakes to avoid Many project management failures come from overdesigning or misusing the structure. Avoid these mistakes to keep your Workstreams lean and effective. * Wide tables with many optional columns. Keep it to eight or fewer. * Two columns for the same idea, for example Status and Phase that overlap. Merge or define clearly. * More than one approval gate when one would do. It slows work and confuses owners. * Mixing unrelated processes in one table, for example signatures and invoice approvals. --- ## Build your first Workstream Building a Workstream is like setting up a project board. Keep it light, pilot it, then refine. Lupl is designed to let you do this quickly without heavy admin work. 1. Write the Workstream purpose in one sentence. 2. Add the Core 5 columns. 3. Add at most three Helpers you will use. 4. Define clear Status meanings in plain words. 5. Set defaults for any value that repeats on most rows, for example Jurisdiction. 6. Add two light automations, a due soon reminder and an overdue nudge. 7. Pilot for one week and adjust. --- ## Where this fits in legal project management Use these principles to standardize project management for lawyers across matters. Keep structures consistent. Reuse column sets and status definitions. Your team will find work faster, reduce follow ups, and close loops on time. --- ### On page SEO helpers * Suggested title tag. Lupl Workstream Design Principles, Practical Legal Project Management for Lawyers * Suggested meta description. Learn how to design lean Lupl Workstreams for legal project management. Get clear rules for Tasks, Steps, statuses, and columns to run matters with confidence. * Suggested URL slug. legal-project-management-for-lawyers-workstream-design

      Lupl Workstream Design Principles: A Practical Guide to Legal Project Management for Lawyers

      Learn why large‑firm lawyers are ditching Excel checklists for dynamic,...