Linear Model Of Litigation Management

Eric Parker @ the Parker | Scheer LLP Blog posted this comment to my post on case managers in litigation:

I manage an AV rated, Boston civil litigation law firm of 8 lawyers, and recently completed a long awaited reorganization of the way cases were managed my attorneys, that has shown some early signs of success.

Essentially, we changed from a "conical" case management model (each partner has a group of cases, which are managed from inception through trial by the partner, along with his/her associate, paralegal, secretary, etc.) to a "linear" model, which divided attorneys into "pre-litigation" and "litigation" group members. Pre-lit attorneys handle cases from intake through the date complaints are filed (if necessary), and litigation group members take it from there.

The purpose of this shift was to have each attorney get better at what they do. Pre-lit. attorneys learn how to better identify promising cases, prepare settlement packages, learn how to value cases, mediate better, arbitrate better, etc. On the other side, litigation members improve skills used to draft discovery, identify new theories of liability, and try cases better. Litigation members also serve as mentors to pre-litigation attorneys who — theoretically — will move toward the litigation group after a reasonable amount of time. So far, so good. More to follow.

This is such a great example of thinking ‘outside the box.’ Of course,a  firm has to be dedicated to delivering quality and results to even conceive of the litigation management model described by Eric.  Congratulations to Eric and his firm for their commitment to innovation in the practice of law.