Legal Project Manager

The Role

The successful candidate will be responsible for supporting the delivery of the full matter lifecycle for a portfolio of significant matters.  The success of this role will be measured by: achieving good levels of engagement with key stakeholders; achieving measurable benefits from the activities undertaken; adding value to the organisation by contributing to the development and roll out of legal project management best practices, tools and techniques as well as supporting the firm's Innovation is Action programme

The successful candidate will be credible, engaging and authoritative, with the ability to build close working relationships at all levels.  Ideally, the successful candidate will have a solid background in project management, preferably gained in a professional services environment.

Key Accountabilities

Working in collaboration with the File Partner and the Managing Associate, utilising Practice Support Coordinators and other available Business Services resources as appropriate, the Legal Project Manager will be expected to take responsibility for supporting the delivery of the full matter lifecycle, from pricing and inception through to the completion of post-closing activities, for a portfolio of significant matters (or work streams within those matters), to ensure that they are delivered in accordance with the client's needs, efficiently, on budget and within timeframe.  They will also be expected to contribute to the development of legal project management tools and best practices at the Firm and provide training in project management techniques and best practices to lawyers.

This will include some or all of the following (depending on the precise nature of the matter):

• In consultation with clients and colleagues, prepare scope, resourcing and budget proposals for relevant matters or work streams and then track progress against those proposals, alerting the relevant stakeholders promptly to variances and recommending changes and developing contingency plans where necessary
• Working with the File Partners and Managing Associates, and consulting as necessary with the Work Allocation Partners or Practice Management Advisors, ensure that relevant matters are adequately and appropriately resourced at all times, taking into account anticipated changes in matter activity and the upcoming workload and availability of members of the matter team
• Arrange appropriate kick-off meetings or communications, ensure that members of the relevant matter teams are adequately briefed about the nature of the matters and the client's expectations and ensure that they are kept up-to-date about any relevant changes through regular update meetings and other communications as appropriate
• Maintain or arrange for the maintenance of appropriate communications channels and resources, such as working party lists, team email distribution lists and online deal and data rooms
• Ensure that any applicable information barriers and/or insider lists are established and maintained
• Act as the interface, where appropriate, to matter-specific and other personnel at the client, lawyers in other practice areas and offices, external and opposing counsel and third-party service providers
• Develop matter timetables to track milestones, deliverables and dependencies and produce periodic reports to provide status updates for both internal and external stakeholders
• Proactively identify any risks and issues that arise, provide options for their mitigation or resolution and take or co-ordinate the taking of appropriate responsive actions
• Assist the File Partner and Managing Associate with the billing process and provide update reports for the client as required
• Arrange post-closing matter reviews and lessons learned exercises
• Find opportunities to work with the firm's Innovation / Legal Transformation and Technology team to spot opportunities to improve service delivery (e.g. through legal technology tools, delivery centres). In addition to this, provide feedback and assist with spotting and implementing new ways of working.

Key requirements

Skills

Business awareness:

• understands law firm financial and performance metrics, the link between effective matter management, profitability and delivering value to clients
• able to analyse financial reports of varying levels of complexity

Client focus:

• keeps clients directly informed and up-to-date with developments
• understands how client organisations function internally and shows sensitivity to cultural factors and the difference between clients

Problem solving with commercial insight:

• able to absorb and explain complex issues clearly and concisely
• able to understand the commercial rationale underlying a client's matter or the Firm's business, and demonstrate an understanding of data and concepts appropriate to the business problem
• willing to challenge and question assumptions; proposes alternative and sometimes novel solutions
• justifies recommendations and is able to handle objections and counter-proposals rationally
• rises above the detail to see broader implications, in terms of both long-term consequences of action and effects on the business analysis and areas outside of own field of expertise

Communication:

• produces clear, high-quality documents (for example, timetables and status reports) that clients can readily understand
• demonstrates consistently high-quality communications: written and oral
• demonstrates an understanding of the audience's needs and the nature of the information being shared
• has good negotiating skills, including the ability to listen to other points of view, uses reasoned argument and finds compromise where necessary

Leading and managing:

• provides project management support for the conduct of a matter, including regular updates to the client and monthly billing
• has strong planning skills: ensures client matters are resourced, monitored and progress in accordance with client expectations and deadlines are met
• able to work under pressure, handle multiple tasks simultaneously, prioritise appropriately and delegate to others
• anticipates risks to implementation of a matter or project and can deal with problems
• clearly communicates the demands of the task to all concerned and briefs team members (including Business Services staff) appropriately (according to their skills, experience and knowledge)
• ensures collective experiences of best practice are captured and utilised to good effect
• work with and help develop our legal project analyst team in Delhi

Relationship building and networking:

• demonstrates commitment to the team by supporting other team members and helping them deliver high-quality service to clients

Your experience

Qualifications

It is essential that you have project management experience with a strong academic history.  Although not essential, a formal project management qualification, such as PRINCE2 or PMP would be desirable, as would a prior career as a lawyer, but neither is essential.  A legal qualification is not required. Although not essential, ability to speak Mandarin and read Simplified Chinese would be desirable.

Experience

You will have a solid background in project management, preferably gained in a professional services environment.  You will also have significant experience of managing teams and supporting complex, multi-jurisdictional matters or engagements (ideally, in a dedicated project management capacity).

Who we are

We are one of the largest international law firms in the world. With over 30 offices across the globe, we strive to exceed the expectations of our clients, providing them with the highest-quality advice and legal insight, which combines the firm’s global standards with in-depth local expertise.

Our firm, work and people span jurisdictions, cultures, and languages. We offer our clients a truly international perspective. We believe every career should be rewarding and stimulating - full of opportunities to learn, thrive, and grow. That’s why we’re so proud of our inclusive, friendly, and team-based approach to work.

You’ll find our clients in commercial and industrial sectors, the financial investor community, governments, regulators, trade bodies, and not-for-profit organisations. But no matter who they are or why they’ve reached out to us, we provide a world-class service every step of the way. And that’s possible thanks to the entrepreneurial spirit and conscientious approach to work that you’ll find across all of our teams.

Whichever area of the business you join, you’ll become an integral part an innovative, diverse and ambitious team of people. Clifford Chance is a place where the brightest minds and the best of colleagues meet.

Equal opportunities statement

At Clifford Chance, we understand that our true asset is our people. Inclusion is good for our team and their families, our firm and society.

We are committed to treating all employees and applicants fairly and equally regardless of their gender, gender identity and expression, marital or civil partnership status, race, colour, national or ethnic origin, social or economic background, disability, religious belief, sexual orientation, or age.  This applies to recruitment and selection, terms and conditions of employment including pay, promotion, training, transfer and every other aspect of employment.

We have a variety of flourishing employee networks. These networks are a place for colleagues to share experiences and advocate for change wherever they see an opportunity for improvement.

Our goal is to deliver an equality of opportunity, an equality of aspiration and an equality of experience to everyone who works in our firm. 

Find out more about our inclusive culture here