Upgrade Your Intake with These 3 Key Project Management Skills

As the legal industry becomes more competitive due to technology and demand, legal professionals who focus on delivering value to the client and increasing client satisfaction will keep their competitive edge. Project management is an interdisciplinary skillset that anyone can develop that will improve client relationships and increase capacity – and it all starts at the intake of a new matter.

1. Define scope

Defining scope at the intake of a matter is always tricky because information gathering is incomplete. “Scope creep” is a project management term that means that additional scope or requirements have been added without adjusting schedule, budget, or resources[1], but colloquially refers to when a matter ends up having complexity than it did at intake. This is not unique to legal and it is why whole project management methodologies center around how change is managed.  The way legal can mitigate scope creep is by discovering the client’s priorities: what does Resolution Plus A Day look like?

“Duh, winning” is not the only definition of a successful resolution to a legal matter; after all, there is a wide swing between a blowout and a Pyrrhic victory. Borrowing from the agile project management concept of the minimum viable product can help uncover what the client’s priorities are. The minimum viable product is “a concept used to define the scope of the first release of a solution to customers by identifying the fewest number of features or requirements that would deliver value.”[2] What does that look like for legal, which does not have the traditional iterative development cycles of an agile project?

Let’s take a couple examples.

Scenario: In-house counsel is contacted to handle a contract dispute with a vendor for failure to deliver. What are some potential outcomes?

• Immediate delivery
• Cancel the contract with no further payments or delivery
• Cancel the contract and get a refund on any payments made
• Discounts on remaining delivery
• Discounts on future business
• Have vendor make changes to process so future transactions avoid the issue
• Vendor to be punished if they violated statutes or regulations, like removal of accreditation

There could be many more than these outcomes and all of them exist on a spectrum of likely to impossible depending on the constraints (such as speed of delivery). It may be great to get a commitment for discounts in the future, but getting the delivery ASAP is the minimum requirement. Before stepping into a negotiation, being empowered with the knowledge of what the business will accept is critical to closing the deal. By keeping the intake focused on resolving the conflict and delivering the most value to the business, legal will position itself as a strategic partner rather than the department of “no”.

Scenario: Private law firm with a personal injury client from a motor vehicle accident. The client may focus on any of the following:

• All medical bills paid
• Vehicle repaired
• Vehicle replaced
• Damages for lost wages
• Punitive damages
• Criminal charges (the law firm could not do this but this may be something the client wants)

Again, this is a spectrum of potential outcomes and it is the attorney’s job to figure out and communicate those outcomes that are (a) impossible; (b) possible but unlikely; (c) possible and likely; and (d) non-negotiable minimums. These conversations could reveal a greater need for client education, which in itself could be a factor of whether or not to take the case at all.

2. Create a communications plan

The most common complaint I have heard from every corner of my legal experience – government, private firms, in-house, legal service providers – is that the client wants better communication. This can be especially frustrating when it comes to legal matters because there are so many external restrictions that hamper how quickly a matter can progress. Whether it is negotiating a contract or preparing for litigation, client engagement is one of the external restrictions that can be improved with the right questions at intake.

A characteristic of agile project management is to develop in iterations with feedback loops. Regular communications serve as these feedback loops as these invite the client to engage with critical updates. Earlier intervention can prevent unnecessary work on the legal team, provide maneuverability and options to the client, and keep the matter from stagnating – just to name a few positive benefits. The intake process should include the method and frequency of communication with the client. The time interval between communications can differ wildly depending on the matter type and urgency, but establishing expectations to communicate regularly with the client from the start keeps the focus on providing value to the client.

A communications plan could be as simple as agreeing that the client will be sent a monthly email that will include accomplishments from the last contact, factors preventing progress, and/or next steps for the matter. An attorney may want to establish with the client that an update does not have to come strictly from the attorney to be a valid update. To retain the law firm, a client may be asked to acknowledge that failing to respond to request for information is sufficient to “fire” the client.

Could some of these updates end up communicating that there is no real update to provide? Yes, and a client will still prefer that over silence. Either way, creating a communications plan helps build value through accountability.

3. Leverage systems

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” and the same can be said for the intake process. It is a delicate balance of obtaining enough of and the right information to move forward, as weighed against time and budget resources. Building a system that allows for tailoring is a challenge for any legal professional. Each matter is unique, but there are patterns that sketch out a framework – as well as regulatory and procedural constraints. Using a framework that takes into account the workflow that will follow brings quality, scalability, and resilience to any organization.

A workflow-informed intake will improve legal’s recommendations by exposing complexity earlier. Take something as simple as a question about parties: even a memorandum of understanding with an international party is going to be handled much differently than one with a domestic party. For starters, this may identify that a certified translator service is required. This will add to the time needed to complete the client’s request and should be communicated back to the client.

Unlocking scalability is the greatest gain for leveraging systems during intake. Beyond capturing institutional knowledge, documenting and refining intake processes becomes a training tool. Developing intake protocols is also a great structure to learn how to delegate for a legal professional who struggles with doing so. Starting a matter with a systems-based approach transforms even the simplest transaction into a means to demonstrate responsiveness to client feedback, a method to improve time and budget estimates, and optimize risk responses.

By treating matter intake as a project management exercise—defining scope, planning communication, and leveraging systems—legal professionals can shift from being reactive problem-solvers to proactive strategic partners, enhancing both client outcomes and organizational capacity.

[1] Project Management Institute. 2021. The Standard for Project Management and A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), 7^th Ed., p. 249.

[2] Id at p. 243.