Earlier this week I noted from the output of my web-crawler an explosion of writing on 'legal' project management. Contrary to my initial expectations, I discovered that the label 'legal' was not intended to draw a distinction with illegal project management (which seems an as-yet untapped field for the management consultant) but instead denoted the proposed application of project management techniques to the field of law. Heavens!
I thought it best to subject this new mischief to a brief survey. As one might expect when a term as nebulous as project management is discussed in a context as broad as law, the scope for misunderstanding exceeds the mental capabilities of the participants in the discussion. Indeed the number of words produced on the subject appears inversely proportional to the clarity of thought preceding their production. In my superficial perusal of the topic I noted instances of all but three of the 58 distinct categories of logical fallacy which I enumerated in my first PhD thesis. (Brushes away a sudden tear of nostalgia at the recollection of those innocent teenage years at Heidelberg.)
What will the pedlars of project management methods next try to target- love making? opera? games of chess? I never heard the like. How can an art as mercurial and capricious as the practice of law be... be... managed? Before we know it they will be asking us to provide a breakdown of our billed hours.
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